Sen. Manchin ‘seriously’ considering switching to Independent
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., explained that he is considering switching to become an Independent.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has been rated the most bipartisan member of the U.S. Senate, as he faces what could be his toughest re-election battle yet in deep-red West Virginia.
The centrist Democrat tops a list of all 100 senators compiled by the Common Ground Committee, a nonprofit dedicated to highlighting bipartisanship in U.S. politics. He’s followed by Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
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Sen. Joe Manchin was ranked the most bipartisan senator by the Common Ground Committees scorecard. (Getty Images)
It comes against the backdrop of a public fallout between Manchin and the White House, as the former accuses President Biden of misusing the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act to promote his progressive climate policy goals.
Meanwhile, Republicans have used Manchin’s support for the legislation, which was key to its passage, as a political cudgel.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, successfully recruited West Virginia’s popular governor Jim Justice to run for Manchin’s seat in 2024.
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Top Senate Republicans have pushed the state's popular GOP Gov. Jim Justice to enter the 2024 race. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchin has not yet said what he’ll do for the next election, but he has not ruled out running for his seat again or even for president under a third-party label. He recently told West Virginia Metro News' Hoppy Kercheval that he’s "seriously" considered shedding his Democrat status in favor of filing as an Independent.
The only statewide Democrat officeholder left in West Virginia, Manchin has reached across the aisle more than any other senator, scoring an 83 out of 100 on the Common Ground Scorecard. The ranking weighs legislative action, media access and communications, among other factors.
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Among members of Congress overall, Manchin ranks 15th. The top spot is shared by Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who both scored 104 points.
Rep. Don Bacon talks to reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on June 6, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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But they’re all outliers – overall, the average score for the House is 27, and it's 36 in the Senate.
Forty-one lawmakers scored zero out of 100. Two saw their rankings go into negative territory, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.
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