Joe Manchin, West Virginia’s 34th governor, was born and raised in the small coal mining town of Farmington, W.Va., where he learned at a young age the value of commitment.
 
He inherited a head for business from his grandfather, who was an Italian immigrant and the town grocer. His grandmother was a virtual one-woman social services agency, who helped him discover his heart for people.
 
After attending West Virginia University on a football scholarship, he became a successful businessman.  He was a state legislator from 1982–1996, where he earned a reputation for standing up for West Virginians.

As secretary of state from 2000–2004, the office became known for excellent customer service. Its SHARES program promoted democracy to schoolchildren and registered 42,000 high school students to vote. Subsequently, the 2004 general election had the highest number of West Virginians voting since 1972.

As governor, Joe Manchin has improved our state’s economic climate, while reducing West Virginia’s long-term debt and lowering taxes for citizens and businesses. He is committed to making health care affordable and accessible, creating a seamless education system for our children, ensuring prescription drug assistance for our seniors and providing more support for our veterans.

Under his leadership, more than $12.5 billion in business investments have been made in the state. West Virginia also led the nation in economic growth from May to August 2008. Working with the Legislature, he fixed the state’s workers’ compensation system, established the first comprehensive teacher pay package in more than 15 years, dramatically decreased the state’s debt, slowed the growth of state government payroll, strengthened ethics laws and cut the food tax in half.

Gov. Manchin has proposed and approved millions of dollars in tax relief for West Virginia’s citizens and businesses. He is known throughout the state as a team builder who encourages cooperation and values all input, and he has quickly become a leader on the national scene. He currently serves as Chairman of the National Governors Association, Chairman of the Southern States Energy Board, past president of the Council of State Governments, and a past chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and the Southern Governors’ Association.

Gov. Manchin is an avid pilot, outdoorsman, hunter, angler and motorcyclist. He has been married for 42 years to the former Gayle Conelly of Beckley. They have three children: Heather, Joseph IV and Brooke, and are the proud grandparents of Joseph V, Sophie, Kelsey, Madeline, Chloe, Jack and Carly.