CHARLESTON — It will be a three-way race for the late Robert C. Byrd’s U.S. Senate seat in November as voters decided to pit Democrat Gov. Joe Manchin against Republican John Raese and Mountain Party’s Jesse Johnson.

The three will appear on the Nov. 2 general election ballot following light voter turnout for the special primary prompted by Byrd’s death two months prior.

The passing of the 92-year-old Democrat put his seat in play as his party seeks to keep its majority in an election year that appears increasingly favorable to Republicans. November’s winner will take over from Sen. Carte Goodwin, a former top Manchin aide and Democrat appointed by the governor for the interim.

Saturday’s results mark the seventh straight statewide electoral victory for Manchin, who turned 63 on Tuesday. After a term as secretary of state, he was elected governor in 2004. He won re-election with a record-high margin for that office, nearly 70 percent. The state constitution bars him from seeking a third consecutive term.

Shelley Welch, 48, a nurse from Morgantown, backed Manchin because she believes he’s created jobs.

“He’s done a good job for the state of West Virginia, and I want him to continue to do a good job for us as a senator,” she said. “Get us some money and create jobs — that’s what’s most important, I think.”

Manchin bested Sheirl Fletcher, a former state lawmaker from Monongalia County, and 95-year-old Ken Hechler. A former congressman and secretary of state, Hechler launched his candidacy for voters to register their opposition to the mountaintop removal method of surface mining.

The governor said the difference was his record of trying to unite people to find ways to improve the state. He said his campaign over the next couple of months will stress that the country needs to be made strong again and put on the right track.

“I’m running for the U.S. Senate to represent all the people,” Manchin said. “It’s going to be a sprint now and we’re prepared.”

Manchin had 73 percent of the vote with 92 percent of 1,881 precincts reporting.

Johnson ran unopposed in the primary for the Mountain Party, which also targets mountaintop removal. But Raese emerged from a pack of 10 GOP hopefuls that also included a real estate developer, a cement contractor and a few retirees.

Raese had 71 percent of the vote with 92 percent of 1,881 precincts reporting. The steel, stone and media owner spent at least a half-million dollars of his own funds into his latest effort. He said Saturday that he considered his name recognition and ability to get out his message key to his victory.

“If they don’t know ya, they don’t vote for ya,” Raese said.

Raese ran against Byrd in 2006 and won about a third of the vote, but noted that this marks his fourth statewide campaign.

“My message has been constant and maybe it didn’t resonate in ’06, but a conservative businessman today, that resonates,” Raese said, adding that “This one is winnable, I can tell you that.”

Raese told supporters he would mount an aggressive campaign that would offer “a clear vision and a clear picture of what a liberal has done in West Virginia.”

Raese’s TV ads were enough to convince Alice Williams, a 69-year-old full-time social worker from Morgantown, to vote for him. Though he’s a millionaire businessman, he appears on camera in jeans and a denim shirt, his sleeves rolled up, talking about the jobs he’s created.

“His platform sounded like he was a grass-roots man,” Williams said, “just wanting to get back to basics and cut out all the spending.”

Williams’ husband, 58-year-old electrochemical engineer Mark Williams, voted for Manchin — but couldn’t resist joking about the governor’s hands-on style and involvement in West Virginia University athletics.

“No, I think he’s young enough but not too young, and I think he’d represent the state better,” he said. “He’s done a good job; he’s fiscally responsible. I mean, he’s not perfect. I’ve got question marks about him. But I think he’ll represent the state better nationally than anyone else.”

Manchin emerges from the primary as the money leader. His campaign has raised at least $1.3 million, including $111,000 detailed in a Federal Election Commission filing posted Saturday.

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said the election came off without a hitch, but estimated voter turnout at 20 percent. She originally hoped that 25 percent of West Virginia’s registered voters would go to the polls Saturday. She said the last time West Virginia held a Saturday election, voter turnout was 14 percent.