  joseph "joe" manchin iii (born august 24, 1947) is the junior united states senator from west virginia. manchin, a member of the democratic party, previously served as the governor of west virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the secretary of state of west virginia from 2001 to 2005. he won the special election in november 2010 to fill the seat of senator robert byrd, the longest serving u.s. senator, who died in office. manchin was elected to a full term in office with 60 percent of the vote in november 2012. manchin will become the state's senior senator when jay rockefeller retires in 2015. ==early life and education== manchin was born in [[farmington, west v
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