Joe Manchin LEAVES the Democratic Party and registers as an independent, amid speculation about whether he will run for elected office this year
Sen. Joe Manchin switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent on Friday, a move that suggests he may be considering another run for elected office.
The move gives the lifelong conservative Democrat a chance to run for Senate or run for governor without a party label in increasingly red West Virginia.
Manchin said he would not run for re-election and said he supported Democrat Steve Williams for governor, but running as an independent could be a solution. Earlier this year, he flirted with the idea of running for president in an independent capacity.
Manchin blamed the “partisan extremism” enabled.
There is speculation that Manchin, who served as governor from 2005 to 2010, could make a last-minute bid for his old seat.
Sen. Joe Manchin switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent on Friday, a move that suggests he may be considering another run for elected office
“Today, our national politics are fractured and neither side is willing to compromise to find common ground. In order to stay true to myself and remain committed to putting country before party, I have decided to register as an independent, with no party affiliation, and continue to fight for America’s sensible majority.”
Manchin still has several weeks to decide whether to make another bid for the Senate or run for his old seat in the governor’s race.
Governor Jim Justice, a Manchin rival, won the Republican Party’s primary for Senate and was heavily favored in November.
Manchin will be the fourth independent to caucus with Democrats, following Sens. Bernie Sanders, Vt., Angus King, Maine, and Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz.
Before Friday, he was the only Democrat in the state’s Congress.