Don Blankenship ran in the May GOP primary but finished a distant third, and submitted signatures earlier this week to run in November as the Constitution Party candidate. | Tyler Evert/AP Photo West Virginia officials deny Blankenship a spot on Senate ballot

West Virginia’s secretary of state on Thursday denied Don Blankenship’s bid to appear on the Senate ballot as a third-party candidate, a victory for Republicans hoping to consolidate votes against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in the general election.

Secretary of State, Mac Warner, said Blankenship’s bid would violate the state’s "sore loser law" preventing a candidate who lost a primary from running again in the general election. Blankenship ran in the May GOP primary but finished a distant third, and submitted signatures earlier this week to run in November as the Constitution Party candidate.


“According to the plain language of the law, which controls my decision, a candidate who loses the Primary Election cannot use the nomination-certificate process to run another campaign in the General Election. Any other decision would be contrary to the law," Warner said in a statement.

The decision is expected to kick off a legal battle over the law itself as Blankenship seeks to continue his campaign. Blankenship said before submitting his petitions that he expected to pursue legal efforts to fight an expected denial. In a statement following the ruling, Blankenship said he was confident it would be overturned.

"The establishment politicians are at it again," Blankenship said. "This time they think they can control who can and who can not run for elected office."

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Blankenship lost the primary to Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is now the GOP nominee seeking to unseat Manchin. National Republicans spent millions against Blankenship in the primary, believing his controversial past — he spent a year in prison for conspiring to violate mine safety standards — made him unelectable in the battleground race.