Frustrated with his fellow Democrats, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia in 2024 gave up his lifelong membership in the Democratic Party to become an independent as he ended his congressional career.
Now he is trying to get more people like himself elected to Congress in a bid to break the stranglehold of the rigid two-party system that helped drive him away from Capitol Hill.
Mr. Manchin and his daughter Heather, a former pharmaceutical executive, have combined forces with other political operatives to form the Independent Leadership Council, a nonpartisan nonprofit group that aims to cultivate and financially back declared independent candidates for Congress this fall. Such efforts have had limited success in the past, but the Manchins said they believe the door is open given growing public disillusionment with partisan stalemate and party politics.
In a recent joint interview, they discussed their plans to roll out endorsements and financial support for select independents this year, why they believe voters are primed to back such candidates and why they think independents in the Senate might have to literally crash official proceedings to get recognized.
The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What makes you think there is an opening for independent candidates now?
JOE MANCHIN First of all, I’m living proof that one vote makes a difference. We were able to get some things done in the 117th Congress that we haven’t done since, or didn’t do a whole lot before. So it showed when they knew that I wasn’t going to go crazy and go far left or far right, they said, “Maybe we can work something out” — and that’s how we got things done.
That gave me the impetus, saying, “Hey, this could work if you have enough people that are willing to say, ‘Listen, I like you both, but I don’t agree with both of you, and I’ll work with you if you become rational and sensible.’” People want a little bit more normalcy.
There are a lot of places where “unaffiliated” or independents are dominant in terms of registration but not in performance.
HEATHER MANCHIN What made this moment feel different is this convergence of higher unaffiliated independents than I think we have seen in the last 10, 15 years. We now have 16 states, 106 districts, where unaffiliated or independent outnumber Republican or Democrat. I think you have a real hunger. We’re feeling it and seeing it in people out there that truly believe that getting someone independent-minded would be a benefit to bring people together.
We believe that strategically there could be three to five areas, places where we could punch through and do what’s not been done before.
Let’s talk about that, because there are independents running and getting attention in House and Senate races, including in Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, California. Is the organization going to put some money in?
MS. MANCHIN We are definitely going to be putting money in and running independent PACs [political action committees] to help amplify and support the candidates that we ultimately end up endorsing. In the near term, say by mid-September, we’ll hone in, but we’re looking. There are a lot of good candidates out there [including in Montana, Alaska, California, Illinois and Iowa].
Would candidates you endorse have to commit to your group’s declaration that says things like no gerrymandering, support open primaries, term limits?
MR. MANCHIN The biggest thing is you are not going to caucus.
You served in the Senate. It is clearly a two-party enterprise. But you are saying no caucusing with either party? How do you function in the Senate if that is the situation?
MR. MANCHIN The thing of it is this: There’s a lot of people who don’t go to caucus lunches, so that’s not the end all and be all. With that being said, they’re going to be shunned and they’re going to be chastised, and the pressure is going to be insurmountable. That’s where I can help them. I can just say: Listen, they cannot deny you the right to vote. You’re going to be voting on the floor.
They cannot deny you your seat in the Senate chamber, your vote on the floor — they cannot deny that. What they can do is make it almost unbearably, horribly strenuous to you that “Hey, you can’t be in any committees.” Now, you’re either going to have to have the parliamentarian or the guards or whatever prevent me from coming in.
I look forward to that. So, are you, senator, going to go out and campaign and endorse some of these independent candidates?
MR. MANCHIN I’ll do whatever they feel is best. We’ll let them make those decisions. We’re talking to them, trying to counsel with them.
What do you think of the Democratic Socialists of America candidates?
MR. MANCHIN The bottom line is D.S.A. is saying all the right things that get people excited, especially the young groups that don’t believe they have an upward bound at all. What they are not saying is the rest of the story. If they’re signing a pledge that they’re going to get rid of the structure of government as we know it, they are going to basically have open borders and really no support for men and women in uniform — police or any other uniform service. When they say they want to tear it all down, and that’s what they are for, no one is realizing that.
Do the two of you hope this builds up to a credible independent candidate for president in 2028?
MR. MANCHIN Oh my gosh, wouldn’t that be wonderful.
MS. MANCHIN Certainly, that would be wonderful. But at a minimum, what we are hoping is if we can prove it can be done, if we can get a couple of these guys over the finish line, then I think it really opens the door to run, say, in ’28.
If we can punch through the party veil, the party dam, then it really, really swarms in to give this momentum and have leaders and great people. And then, yes, obviously if that leadership pipeline would percolate into the presidency, that would be awesome as well.
