CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Claiming easy wins in their parties' special primary elections Saturday, Gov. Joe Manchin will face Morgantown businessman John Raese in a Nov. 2 special election to fill the remainder of the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd's term in the Senate.

With 85 percent of precincts reporting, Manchin easily outpaced former secretary of state Ken Hechler and two-term delegate Sheirl Fletcher with 73 percent of the votes cast, at 55,882 votes. Hechler had 13 percent of the vote, at 13,021, with Fletcher at 10 percent, with 7,756 votes.

Raese, the best-known candidate among a field of 10 Republicans, also breezed with 71 percent of the vote in that primary, at 33,585. Morgantown real estate executive Mac Warner had 16 percent, with 7,387 votes.

None of the other eight Republican candidates had more than 3 percent of the vote.

Manchin, joined by first lady Gayle Manchin and daughter Brooke, made an acceptance speech at his campaign headquarters in Kanawha City shortly after 9 p.m.

"To have this margin of victory after six years of being chief executive of West Virginia ... I can't say any more than that," said Manchin, who said he was proud to still have the support of business and labor over all the years.

Manchin pledged to run an upbeat and positive campaign, and said he is hopeful that Raese - who has been known to employ an acid tongue in past elections - will do the same.

"Anyone who comes after the state of West Virginia, or ourselves in a negative manner, we will defend ourselves," Manchin said.

At the same time, Raese was making his victory speech in Morgantown, saying the November election will be a referendum on conservatism versus liberalism.

With the campaign season compressed into just over one month, the crowded field of candidates had limited time to raise funds or organize campaigns.

Beyond appearing at numerous fundraising events where he raised more than $1 million, Manchin did very little campaigning and advertising, beyond a series of automated "robo-calls" urging Democrats to go to the polls.

Opponents made note of his failure to appear at campaign events, including a debate in Charles Town attended by all other candidates.

Republican challenger Harry Bruner Jr. dubbed Manchin as "No-show Joe," and hand-delivered letters to the governor's Capitol offices demanding that he debate.

Millionaire businessman Raese, by contrast, had numerous television and radio spots in heavy circulation for the past month on state media outlets, including many airing on his family-owned MetroNews radio network.

All of Raese's ads played on low approval ratings among state voters for President Obama, and featured a tag line stating that he would not be a "rubber-stamp for Obama" in the Senate.

The Democratic special primary race was notable as presumably being the last campaign by former congressman and secretary of state Hechler, whose involvement in politics dates back to the Truman administration.

Unlike his most previous campaign in 2004, when he spent more than $1.2 million trying to return as secretary of state, Hechler ran a grassroots campaign using limited radio and TV ads, and running on the singular issue of opposing mountaintop removal mining.

At 95, Hechler had the burden of trying to persuade voters that his age should not be an issue. To that end, Hechler posed frequently behind the wheel of his trademark red jeep with "Ken-Do" license plate, and made a point of standing throughout the duration of his press conference announcing his candidacy.

For the most part, the field of challengers was mostly political unknowns with limited campaign organizations and resources. Warner, a retired Army officer and Morgantown real estate developer, is from a family prominent in state Republican politics, and finished second in the May primary for the 1st Congressional seat.

Fletcher was a Republican member of the House of Delegates for two terms, beginning in 1999, before becoming a Democrat in 2003.

Frequent Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson was unopposed in his party's primary.

The rare late-summer Saturday election came exactly two months to the day that Byrd, the longest serving U.S. senator, died at age 92.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.