Sen. Joe Manchin told his colleagues Tuesday that he plans to run for re-election in 2018, The New York Times reported.
The West Virginia Democrat is the most conservative in the Senate, and his decision eases his party's worries that a Republican would take his seat in a state that Donald Trump won in the 2016 election, the newspaper noted.
He discussed with other Democrats about how the party needed to tolerate lawmakers that were not from more liberal blocs.
"I've said this point blank. If people like me can't win from red states, you'll be in the minority the rest of your life," Manchin told the Times.
Manchin is part of a bipartisan group, the so-called Common Sense Coalition, which forced the government to reopen and promised to lead negotiations over immigration, the budget, and other issues, The Times reported.
The lawmaker told the Times that Democrats in the Senate had to convince him to run again, and the coalition convinced him that he had made the correct decision about running again.
"That just reaffirms that… the place is much better than we give it credit for," he told the newspaper.
Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., joined Manchin in a meeting with President Donald Trump Monday on moving forward with immigration legislation.
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