CHARLESTON -- It was late in January when the rumor ran through the state Capitol like an electric current: Gov. Joe Manchin has an election opponent.

A Democrat.

Freshman Delegate Mel Kessler had filed paperwork that day to run against Manchin, shocking those who had expected the popular first-term governor to waltz into a general election against a longshot Republican.

But Kessler, 59, a semiretired Raleigh County businessman, had other ideas. And now voters in the Democratic primary can choose between men who in some ways seem like opposites: a gifted natural politician or a man who prides himself on being bad at politics.

"If you had told me last year I'd be running for governor, I'd have said you were crazy," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "But if you'd told me five years ago I'd be in the House of Delegates, I'd have said the same thing."

Lobbyists, special interests and the compromises of day-to-day politics helped Kessler decide to take on his party's titular leader in the May 13 primary. But the former United Auto Workers union local official is also unhappy with how Manchin deals with the Legislature.

"I believe it's kind of his way or the highway," Kessler said, arguing that Manchin treats the solid Democratic majorities in both chambers more as assistants than partners.

"Our forefathers set up three branches of government for a reason; to keep checks on each other," Kessler said.

Manchin, by contrast, has only praise for Kessler's commitment.

"He's a good person," the governor told The Associated Press. "He's passionate about what he believes, and that's important."

The Farmington native can perhaps afford to be gracious. In the past four years, Manchin has become perhaps the most prominent resident of the state. He's won national praise for his presence during the 2006 mine disasters at Sago and Aracoma, and for the mine safety legislation he subsequently signed into law.

But he's also become known to West Virginians as a tireless booster of the state's image, cheering on the West Virginia University Mountaineers from the sidelines at the Fiesta Bowl this year or riding a motorcycle down a school hallway for a Marshall University television show.

In more concrete terms, he also has a considerable advantage when it comes to campaign finances. In filings last week, Manchin's campaign showed him having spent more than $627,000 in the current election cycle, compared to just under $12,000 spent by Kessler. Manchin still has more than $1.8 million to spend, while Kessler's filing listed his campaign's remaining balance as $8,652.

"I know it's a hard, uphill climb," Kessler said.

Campaigns aren't only about money and name recognition, though, and both candidates are drawing attention to what they say are overlooked issues of critical importance.

One of Manchin's main goals as governor has been to ensure the state's fiscal stability. That strategy has borne fruit; an Associated Press study of state finances found 23 in danger of budget shortfalls beginning July 1, but West Virginia is not among them.

"That's not the sizzle that sells for campaigning, I know that," Manchin said, "but for too long we've passed it onto the next administration and the administration after that. I'm not going to do that."

Under Manchin, the state has reined in spending, boosted revenues and shrunk the size of the state employee work force.

Kessler, though, argues the state could be in better financial shape by changing the way coal and natural gas companies are taxed. The current tax rate is too low, he said, especially when coal prices are soaring.

"There's no reason West Virginia should be a poor state," he said, dismissing the argument that higher taxation would discourage business growth.

"These natural resources extractors can't pack up and move out if you start taxing them fairly," Kessler said.

Manchin contends that the way forward for the state is by forging a lasting partnership between business and labor to focus on work force development and improving education in the state. Pitting groups in the state against one another is a bad strategy, he argues.

"My promise to people has always been, not only will you have a seat at the table, but when you don't come to dinner we're going to come looking for you," Manchin said.

The winner of the primary will take on Republican Russ Weeks, a former state senator, in the fall.