Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has spent his entire decades-long political career as a Democrat, said Friday he is leaving the party and registering as an independent, fueling speculation about whether he will run for office this fall a new term in the Senate or for governor.
“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,” he said. Manchin said in a statement.
Manchin’s move was first reported by longtime West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval. Despite his party switch, Manchin will continue to consult with Senate Democrats, his office said.
Last November, Manchin announced he would not seek a third term in 2024, but his decision to switch parties will once again raise questions about his political future.
The deadline for an independent candidate to run for office in West Virginia this year is Aug. 1, the secretary of state said.
My commitment to doing everything I can to bring our country together has led me to register as an independent party, without any party affiliation. pic.twitter.com/tvMB2N87AW
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) May 31, 2024
Manchin, 76, served as governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010, when he won a special election to fill a Senate seat left vacant by the death of legendary Democrat Robert Byrd. Manchin won a full term in the Senate in 2012 and a second term in 2018.
But he won the race against Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey by just over 20,000 votes, or 3 percentage points, as the state turned ruby red, driven by the rise of Donald Trump in 2016. In 2020, Trump captured nearly 70% of the vote in West Virginia.
Earlier this month, current Governor Jim Justice, backed by Trump, won the Republican nomination for Senate and had been favored to succeed Manchin in the fall. But Manchin’s surprise move could upset that race if he decides to run for re-election as an independent.
A more likely scenario is that Manchin seeks his old job as governor — a potential race that would put him in a rematch with Republican candidate Morrisey, as well as the Democratic candidate, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams.
If he considers an independent bid for either office, Manchin had until June 1 to change his party affiliation; West Virginia state law allows the Secretary of State to refuse to certify a candidate if he or she was registered to vote with another party within 60 days of filing the nomination.
Manchin becomes the second Senate Democrat in recent years to switch his party affiliation to an independent. In late 2022, Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced she was leaving the party and becoming an independent. She later said she would not seek a second term in the Senate.
For years, Manchin was perhaps the most conservative member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, with a reputation for going his own way and relishing his role as a thorn in the side of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and his own party leadership.
And while he voted with Biden on major legislative initiatives, including the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, Manchin has been an outspoken critic of the current president on numerous occasions, especially on energy issues.
Last year, Manchin, the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, threatened to join Republicans in voting to repeal the IRA, Biden’s signature climate change bill that the senator helped negotiate, over objections to the way the law was implemented by the government.
And in 2022, Manchin demanded that Biden apologize for pushing for the closure of coal plants and a shift to clean energy, calling his comments “detached from reality.”
Throughout this election cycle, Manchin had flirted with launching a third-party bid for Biden, a prospect that would have significantly damaged the incumbent Democrat in the general election against Trump. But the senator announced in February that he would not take on such an undertaking.
“I’m not going to look for a third party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run,” Manchin said during a speech at the time. “I will ensure that we get a president who has the knowledge, the passion and the ability to bring this country together.”
Kercheval, the prominent West Virginia radio host, said on his radio show Friday when the news broke that the development was a major blow to Democrats in the state, but not necessarily a big surprise. “Manchin has been playing with this independence for a long time. Although he is a Democrat, he has been operating as an independent in Washington for some time,” Kercheval said.
Kercheval noted that amid speculation that Manchin could reverse course and run for governor, the move to re-register as an independent “keeps his options open for another 60 days.”
“Maybe he won’t run away from anything, and I don’t think he will,” Kercheval added. “But Manchin has been known to change his mind and this keeps his options open.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
