West Virginia Sen. Manchin Registers as an Independent, Citing ‘Partisan Extremism’

FILE – Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, July 11, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Manchin says he has registered as an independent, raising questions about his future political plans. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file)

Washington – Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Friday that he has switched his registration to independent, raising questions about his political plans as the move could boost his chances if he were to seek elected office again in a state that has become heavily Republican.

Manchin, 76, has often feuded with the Democratic Party and has been an obstacle to many of President Joe Biden’s legislative priorities. But he played a central role in helping Biden cross the finish line on climate change and health care in 2022.

He had already announced in November that he would not seek re-election to the Senate, giving Republicans a clear path to take his seat in West Virginia in their bid to regain the majority next year.

Manchin has served in the Senate since 2010 and chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He said in a statement that over the past 15 years he has seen both major political parties abandon their voters because of “partisan extremism while endangering our democracy.”

“Today our national politics are fractured and neither side is willing to compromise to find common ground,” Manchin said. “To stay true to myself and 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 will continue to consult with Democrats and retain his chairmanship, according to a person familiar with his thinking who was granted anonymity to share his plans. The move helps Democrats maintain their slim 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Still, faced with a possible retirement from politics, Manchin appears to be keeping his options open.

He had long wanted to change his party affiliation and become an independent, according to a second person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss it. But a looming deadline in West Virginia forced the issue.

Candidates must submit their political affiliation 60 days before the August 1 deadline to participate in this year’s elections.

Now registered as an independent, Manchin still has time for another Senate race or a possible run for governor, a position he held from 2005 to 2010.

He had traveled back and forth for months before announcing he would not run for re-election to the Senate. Many wondered whether he could win against wildly popular Gov. Jim Justice, the Republican Senate candidate who helped recruit Manchin in 2016 to run for governor as a Democrat. The Justice Department switched to Republican not long ago during a meeting with then-President Donald Trump. first term.

Should the Senate candidates stumble, Manchin could be ready to try to keep his seat. But a run for governor could be more beneficial.

Manchin previously defeated the Republican candidate for governor, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, in 2018. That Senate campaign was Manchin’s toughest in his more than three decades in West Virginia politics. He defeated Morrisey by just over 3 percentage points.

Steve Williams, the Democratic candidate for governor and mayor of Huntington, said last week that he does not believe Manchin plans to enter the governor’s race, adding that they have been friends for decades.

West Virginia Democratic Party officials said Friday that Manchin had not told them he was switching to an independent party. On Friday, Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin said in a statement that he was disappointed.

“While the Senator has been one of the most independent senators in the country and has at times opposed the Democratic agenda, we will always be grateful for his votes to impeach President Trump, for the creation of the January 6 Commission, and for his warning that: If re-elected, Trump will ‘destroy democracy in America,’” he said.

Manchin first entered the Senate after winning a special election following the death of Robert C. Byrd in 2010. The state’s political makeup has changed dramatically since then.

During Manchin’s first two Senate campaigns, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans, but those numbers have reversed. Now, about 40% of registered voters are Republicans, compared to 31% of Democrats and about 24% who are not party members.

Both chambers of the Legislature have Republican supermajorities, and Trump won the state overwhelmingly in 2016 and 2020.

Manchin had also flirted with the possibility of running for president as a third-party candidate, but decided against it in February, saying he didn’t want to be a “spoiler.”

Manchin, the latest in a line of powerful Senate Democrats from West Virginia to advance coal interests nationally, has increasingly complained about the two-party system in the past year. During a tour of a stamping factory in Charleston in October, he said he identified more with independents than with either party.

“Don’t worry about the ‘D’ or the ‘R’, worry about the person – who is that person?” he said. “There can be a good D and a bad D and a good R and a bad R, but the identity – I like the independent identity more.”

Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report. Willingham reported from Charleston, WV

FILE – Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., asks a question during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine the president’s proposed 2025 Interior Department budget on Capitol Hill, May 2, 2024, in Washington. Manchin says he has registered as an independent, raising questions about his future political plans. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)