Independent Democrat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In

elected officials, including members of Congress
, have identified as independent Democrats.

Active members

US Senate

History

The first member of the

independent.[1]

In 1848, a candidate for Mayor of Chicago, James Hutchinson Woodworth, labelled himself an independent Democrat to distance himself from what was at the time a corrupt and disorganized Chicago Democratic party organization; he preferred being described as an independent Democrat rather than as a Whig as that party was itself experiencing a transition. He won his first election by an overwhelming majority and then was re-elected for a second term. However his mayoral political success sealed his departure from any further association with the then Illinois Democratic party. When the Whigs in Illinois became the new Republican party, and he was able to confirm that his abolitionist ideals would be recognized, he registered as a member of the GOP. He subsequently was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Illinois as a member of the GOP. Woodworth served one term in Congress, and return to a banking career in Chicago that spanned the Civil War era and the Reconstruction.

Andrew Jackson Hamilton, of western Texas, was an independent Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, but did not run for re-election in 1860.[2]

Republican Party
in 1964.

caucus with the Democrats and referred to himself as an independent Democrat.[4][5]

Patrick Lucey was a Democrat who ran as an independent as a vice-presidential candidate in 1980 with John B. Anderson.

David Orr, who served as Mayor of Chicago briefly, entered politics as an independent Democrat.[citation needed]

In the

general election in November as its candidate—one of five on the ballot in that race. He won with 49.7% of the votes cast for the office.[6] He had stated while campaigning that if elected he would to meet in caucus with the Democrats in the 110th United States Congress, and within the week following the election, he stated that he was "an Independent Democrat, capital I, capital D",[7] and that he had specified as much to the secretary of the Senate. Throughout that Congress, he continued in that caucus (and it remained the majority caucus, with 51 or 50 members, complemented by the 49 or 48 Republicans caucusing together). As of December 2009, during the 111th Congress, Lieberman was annotated as "ID-CT" on the U.S. Senate's "contact information" web page for him,[8] and with "Independent" in the "Party" column (for both the 110th and 111th Congresses) on Congress's "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress"[9]
page for him.

Four members of the

Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the longest-serving independent politician in congressional history, has caucused with the Democratic Party since 1995[citation needed], in both his House and Senate runs. He has criticized the Democratic Party from a socialist perspective, though sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 and 2020.

centrist during his tenure, and later ran for Senate in 2012 on the same premise. He has caucused with Senate Democrats since 2013, and briefly considered caucusing with Republicans after the 2014 Senate elections.[11]

118th Congress. She has opted to caucus with neither party, though maintain her seniority and committee assignments through the Senate Democratic Caucus.[12]

Congressional candidates such as Cara Mund, Evan McMullin, and Al Gross have all run as independents while receiving endorsements from their respective states' Democratic Parties.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details".
  2. ^ Greeley, Horace; Cleveland, John F. (1860). A Political Text-book for 1860: Comprising a Brief View of Presidential Nominations and Elections: Including All the National Platforms Ever Yet Adopted: Also, a History of the Struggle Respecting Slavery in the Territories, and of the Action of Congress as to the Freedom of the Public Lands, with the Most Notable Speeches and Letters of Messrs. Lincoln, Douglas, Bell, Cass, Seward ... Etc., Touching the Questions of the Day; and Returns of All Presidential Elections Since 1836. New York: Tribune Association. p. 244.
  3. ^ "Party Division in the Senate, 1789–Present". United States Senate. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  4. ^ "Flight of the Byrd". Time, Inc. March 30, 1970. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010.
  5. ^ "Senators Who Changed Parties During Senate Service (Since 1890)". United States Senate. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  6. ^ "Vote for United States Senator ... November 7, 2006", Connecticut State Register & Manual
  7. ^ "MTP Transcript for Nov. 12", page 3, at Meet the Press site
  8. ^ "Senators of the 111th Congress: Joseph I. Lieberman". United States Senate. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  9. ^ Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress Archived 2010-04-23 at the Wayback Machine; specify "lieberman" in "Last Name" field
  10. ^ Aris, Hezi (January 26, 2011). "Independent Democratic Conference Members to Chair Legislative Committees". Yonkers Tribune. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  11. ^ "Senator King to caucus with Democrats". WCSH. November 5, 2014. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  12. ^ 2023 Congressional Record, Vol. 169, Page S22 (January 3, 2023)