Gov. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia is up against Republican John Raese for the coveted Senate seat (Photo courtesy of Joe Manchin III's Facebook Page)

The seat was formerly held by the late Sen. Robert C Byrd, a Democrat, for more than 50 years. 

Manchin is a popular politician in West Virginia, but many hoped he would stay on as governor, rather than trying to take on Washington. 

Manchin stressed Tuesday night that he will try to bring a touch of West Virginia to D.C. 

"Tomorrow starts the road of rebuilding America," Manchin said. "I really believe that Washington can learn a few lessons from West Virginia; a little common sense goes a long way, I can tell you that.”

West Virginia has experienced the third-highest early voting turnout with more than 108,200 voters statewide casting early ballots. The Wall Street Journal reports that nearly 58,000 Democrats and 38,000 Republicans voted early. It is still however unclear whether Manchin, a conservative Democrat, or Raese, a Republican, will come out on top.

The tight race brought in support from former President Bill Clinton, who made his second appearance in the state on Monday, following visits from Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin.

The race between Manchin and Raese has been an expensive and controversial one. Campaign donations have been estimated at about $13 million, and campaign ads have gotten national attention. Recently, Republican Raese made a television advertisement. The advertisement itself wasn’t controversial, and actors just portrayed normal West Virgina citizens. The casting call sheet, however, asked actors to act like “hicks.” West Virginians are outraged and Manchin is using the ad to his advantage.

Republican businessman John Raese clashes with Democratic Gov. John Manchin on many major issues, and during a recent debate, made it clear that he will not be supportive of policies such as Obama’s new healthcare plan. “I want to bring back the spirit of capitalism…to create the freedom of an individual,” he said while debating with Manchin.

Recent polls  showed Manchin is leading the race with 51% of the votes, with Raese lagging behind with 46%. 

Reach reporters Melissa Dempsey here, Arezou Rezvani here and Piya Sinha-Roy here.