Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday he is “thinking seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent.
“I’m thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad. The ‘D’ brand and ‘R’ brand,” Manchin (D-WV) told Mountain State radio host Hoppy Kercheval. “You’ve heard me say a million times, I am not a Washington Democrat.”
Manchin, 75, has battled with President Biden in recent months over energy policy, accusing his administration of “ignoring” provisions to expand domestic fossil fuels in the Inflation Reduction Act — which he co-sponsored and helped pass.
The senator also threatened to block nominees for the Environmental Protection Agency to protest Biden’s “radical climate agenda” following a proposal to drastically cut emissions that he said would imperil the US electric grid.
Manchin, who is up for re-election in 2024, said Thursday he “been thinking about that for quite some time” and wants to “make sure that my voice is truly an independent voice,” but has not “made any decisions” yet.
“When I get ready to make a decision, I’ll come see you,” he told Kercheval.
Manchin has not yet announced whether he will seek a third full six-year Senate term — but last month, he headlined a New Hampshire town hall event as speculation swirled about a possible third-party presidential run.
“I’ve never been in any race I’ve ever spoiled. I’ve been in races to win, and if I get in a race I’m going to win,” Manchin said during a panel discussion with former Utah Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman, according to Roll Call.
When asked Thursday whether he had considered the optics of attending the event in an early voting state, Manchin demurred.
“I think people are putting the cart ahead of the horse. We’re here to make sure that the American people have an option. And the option is, can you move the political parties off their respective sides?” he said. “They’ve gone too far right and too far left.”
The bipartisan group No Labels hosted the New Hampshire event after teasing an “insurance plan” to put forward a 2024 Unity ticket opposing both President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Most Americans say Biden, 80, and Trump, 77, are not “fit to serve another term” in office and nearly half would vote for a third-party candidate next year if both are re-nominated, recent polls indicate.
No Labels founder and former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who switched his affiliation from Democratic to independent in 2006, has pledged the group will not enter the presidential race as a “spoiler” for either major party.
Trump ally and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced in April he would run for Manchin’s seat in 2024, with an internal Republican poll showing him with a double-digit lead over the Democratic incumbent.
Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) is also seeking the GOP nomination in the Mountain State, which Trump carried by 39 percentage points in the 2020 election.
Manchin would become the second Democrat after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) to change their party affiliation to independent in the past year. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) left the Democratic Party in December 2019.
“I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington,” Sinema wrote in a December 2022 op-ed announcing her departure.
Around the same time,Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) floated the idea of Manchin joining the Republican Party, where “he would be joining a lot of folks who have similar views on a whole range of issues.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Angus King of Maine have long been independents who choose to caucus with Democrats in the upper chamber. Sanders was elected to the Senate in 2006, while King was elected in 2012.
