W.Va. gov in tough Senate race sues administration

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Associated Press

By TIM HUBER (AP) – 15 minutes ago

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Joe Manchin's aides filed suit Wednesday against Obama administration coal mining policies as the West Virginia Democrat wages a fierce Senate race against a Republican who paints him as a rubber stamp for the president.

Manchin on Wednesday denied any connection between the federal lawsuit and his campaign to finish the remaining two years of the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd's term.

The Democratic governor said the suit was already being prepared amid rising concern that U.S. coal policies harm West Virginia's mining economy months before Byrd died in June.

"Over the past year and a half, we have been fighting President Obama's administration's attempts to destroy the coal mining industry," Manchin said at a news conference Wednesday.

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