CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- After some speculation, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said Tuesday he will run for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the late Robert C. Byrd.

On Friday, Manchin appointed Carte Goodwin as interim U.S. senator until November's special election. Goodwin, 36, is Manchin's former counsel and will be sworn in on Capitol Hill at 2:30 p.m.

Manchin announced his Senate run during a 10 a.m. news conference. He said even if he is elected, he can never fill Byrd's shoes.

"We can't replace him, nor do I intend to replace Robert C. Byrd, if I am so fortunate and honored to have the support of the people of West Virginia," he said.

Monday night, Manchin signed a bill into law that changed the state's ambiguous succession laws, which could have left Goodwin to serve until 2012.

A last-minute legislative compromise Monday cleared the way for a November election to fill the seat. The measure -- which sets an Aug. 28 primary and Nov. 2 general election -- was passed 83-7 by the House and 29-0 by the Senate.

The bill had to pass during Monday's special session to apply to this fall. It limits the discretion allowed Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, whose office oversees the special election. The compromise also allows Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito to run both for Byrd's seat and a sixth U.S. House term. Capito is considered the GOP's top prospect for winning the seat but had not announced as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday if she will challenge Manchin.

Manchin said he could have appointed himself to the position, but said he didn't want to do that.

"It's not a selection process, it's a election process," he said. "It is the will of the people and they will have their chance to speak.

He said he hopes to continue in Washington what many said he started in Charleston.

"I will work tirelessly. I believe in our state, and I've said this before, I believe in you more than you believe in yourself. Now, I get the chance to tell the world how good you are -- maybe -- if I get that opportunity," he said.

If Manchin wins, the president of the state Senate -- Earl Ray Tomblin -- would become governor. Tomblin has been Senate president since 1995 and has been a member of the state Senate representing Logan County since 1980. He is the longest serving president in West Virginia Senate history.

Filing for the U.S. Senate seat will open at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and will close at 5 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, Tennant and four county clerks, two from each party, will meet in Charleston to determine ballot positions for all the candidates who have filed.

With the August primary now only about a month away, elections boards in the Ohio Valley said they will work hard to get ready for voters to head to the polls. Under normal circumstances, preparing for a special election can take four months.

Some counties started preparing immediately Tuesday morning by getting absentee and military ballots to the printers and rounding up a list of poll workers.

Marshall County Clerk Jan Pest was in Charleston last week as one of a group of election coordinators who met to determine if they could make the primary election happen so quickly.

The group decided to shorten many deadlines. For example, early voting typically lasts 20 days with two Saturdays to vote. However, this time around, voters will have just five days for early voting and one Saturday.

Pest said the counties will not have any out-of-pocket costs for the primary.

"It's actually going to be funded by the state. We've been guaranteed that. It's in the bill. They've allocated $3 million for the election itself and any amount of money above that will come from the governor's contingency fund," she said.

She said she wants voters to focus not so much on the cost, but on the importance of the race. Although the primary will be a scramble for election boards, Pest said what will also simplify the process are electronic voting machines and the fact there's only one race. Elections officials will also be allowed to condense precincts so fewer poll workers will be needed.

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