# Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress

Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress are generally rare. Although the Republican and Democratic parties have dominated U.S. politics in a two-party system since 1856, some independents and members of other political parties have also been elected to the House of Representatives or Senate, or changed their party affiliation during their term.

## Senate

| Senator | State | Term | Notes |
| Joe Manchin | West Virginia | 2010–2025 | Elected as a Democrat, switched to independent in 2024 |
| Kyrsten Sinema | Arizona | 2019–2025 | Elected as a Democrat, switched to independent in 2022 |
| Angus King | Maine | 2013–present | Elected as an independent; caucuses with the Democrats |
| Bernie Sanders | Vermont | 2007–present | Elected as an independent; caucuses with the Democrats; Democratic Party member from 2015–2016 and 2019–2020 while running for President |
| Joe Lieberman | Connecticut | 1989–2013 | Re-elected on the Connecticut for Lieberman ticket after losing the 2006 Democratic nomination |
| Dean Barkley | Minnesota | 2002–2003 | Appointed for Independence Party of Minnesota |
| Jim Jeffords | Vermont | 1989–2007 | Switched from Republican to independent in 2001 |
| Bob Smith | New Hampshire | 1990–2003 | Switched from Republican to independent in 1999 but switched back to Republican in 2000 |
| James L. Buckley | New York | 1971–1977 | Elected as a Conservative, lost re-election as a Republican in 1976 |
| Harry F. Byrd Jr. | Virginia | 1965–1983 | Switched from Democratic to independent in 1970 |
| Wayne Morse | Oregon | 1945–1969 | Switched from Republican to independent in 1953, then to Democratic in 1955 |
| John E. Miller | Arkansas | 1937–1941 | Elected as an independent, served as Democratic |
| Ernest Lundeen | Minnesota | 1937–1940 | Elected as Farmer-Labor |
| George W. Norris | Nebraska | 1913–1943 | Switched from Republican to independent in 1936 |
| Elmer Austin Benson | Minnesota | 1935–1936 | Elected as Farmer-Labor |
| Robert M. La Follette Jr. | Wisconsin | 1925–1947 | Switched from Republican to Progressive in 1934, then back to Republican in 1946 |
| Magnus Johnson | Minnesota | 1923–1925 | Elected as Farmer-Labor |
| Henrik Shipstead | Minnesota | 1923–1947 | Elected as Farmer-Labor, switched to Republican in 1940 |
| Miles Poindexter | Washington | 1911–1923 | Switched from Republican to Progressive in 1912, switched back to Republican in 1915 |
| Joseph M. Dixon | Montana | 1907–1913 | Switched from Republican to Progressive in 1912 |
| Henry Heitfeld | Idaho | 1897–1903 | Elected as a Populist |
| William Alexander Harris | Kansas | 1897–1903 | Elected as a Populist |
| Henry Moore Teller | Colorado | 1876–1909 | Switched from Republican to Silver Republican in 1896, then to Democratic in 1903 |
| Fred Dubois | Idaho | 1891–1897 | Switched from Republican to Silver Republican in 1896 |
| Frank J. Cannon | Utah | 1896–1899 | Switched from Republican to Silver Republican in 1896 |
| Richard F. Pettigrew | South Dakota | 1889–1901 | Switched from Republican to Silver Republican in 1896 |
| Lee Mantle | Montana | 1895–1899 | Switched from Republican to Silver Republican in 1896 |
| John P. Jones | Nevada | 1873–1903 | Switched from Republican to Silver in 1895, then back to Republican in 1901 |
| William Morris Stewart | Nevada | 1887–1905 | Switched from Republican to Silver in 1893, then back to Republican in 1901 |
| William V. Allen | Nebraska | 1893–1901 | Elected as a Populist |
| James H. Kyle | South Dakota | 1891–1901 | Elected as a Populist |
| Marion Butler | North Carolina | 1895–1901 | Elected as a Populist |
| William A. Peffer | Kansas | 1891–1897 | Elected as a Populist |
| Harrison H. Riddleberger | Virginia | 1883–1889 | Elected as a Readjuster |
| William Mahone | Virginia | 1881–1887 | Elected as a Readjuster |
| David Davis | Illinois | 1877–1883 | Elected as an independent |
| Newton Booth | California | 1875–1881 | Elected as an Anti-Monopolist, served as an Independent Republican |
| Orris S. Ferry | Connecticut | 1867–1875 | Elected as a Liberal Republican in 1872 |
| Morgan C. Hamilton | Texas | 1870–1877 | Switched from Republican to Liberal Republican in 1872, switched back to Republican in 1875 |
| Charles Sumner | Massachusetts | 1851–1874 | Elected as Free Soil Democratic in 1851, became a Republican in 1855, then became a Liberal Republican in 1872 |
| David T. Patterson | Tennessee | 1866–1869 | Elected as a Unionist in 1866, became a Republican by 1867 |
| Joseph S. Fowler | Tennessee | 1866–1871 | Elected as an Unconditional Unionist in 1866, became a Republican by 1867 |
| John Creswell | Maryland | 1865–1867 | Elected as an Unconditional Unionist in 1864 |
| Benjamin Gratz Brown | Missouri | 1863–1867 | Elected as a Union Emancipationist in 1863, became a Radical Unionist (Republican) by 1865 |
| Peter G. Van Winkle | West Virginia | 1863–1869 | Elected as a Unionist in 1863, became a Republican by 1867 |
| Reverdy Johnson | Maryland | 1863–1868 | Elected as a Unionist in 1863, switched to Democratic by 1865 |
| Lemuel J. Bowden | Virginia | 1863–1864 | Elected as a Unionist in 1863 |
| Thomas Holliday Hicks | Maryland | 1862–1865 | Elected as an Unconditional Unionist in 1862 |
| Robert Wilson | Missouri | 1862–1863 | Appointed as a Unionist in 1862 |
| John B. Henderson | Missouri | 1862–1869 | Elected as a Unionist in 1862, became a Republican by 1865 |
| Garrett Davis | Kentucky | 1861–1872 | Elected as a Union Democrat in 1861, switched to Democratic by 1867 |
| John S. Carlile | Virginia | 1861–1865 | Elected as a Unionist in 1861 |
| Waitman T. Willey | Virginia | 1861–1863 | Elected as a Unionist in 1861 |

## House of Representatives

| Representative | District | Term | Notes |
| Paul Mitchell | Michigan 10th | 2017–2021 | First elected as a Republican, switched to independent in 2020 |
| Justin Amash | Michigan 3rd | 2011–2021 | First elected as a Republican, switched to independent in 2019 and then to Libertarian in 2020 |
| Virgil Goode | Virginia 5th | 1997–2009 | Switched from Democratic to independent in 2000, then to Republican in 2002 |
| Jo Ann Emerson | Missouri 8th | 1996–2013 | First elected as a Republican, re-elected as an independent due to state law, then rejoined Republicans in early 1997 |
| Bernie Sanders | Vermont at-large | 1991–2007 | Elected as an independent |
| William Carney | New York 1st | 1979–1987 | Elected as a Conservative and later sat with Republicans, switched to Republican in 1985 |
| Frazier Reams | Ohio 9th | 1951–1955 | Elected as an independent |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. | New York 20th | 1949–1955 | Elected as a Liberal, re-elected as Democratic |
| Leo Isacson | New York 24th | 1948–1949 | Elected from the American Labor Party ticket |
| Harold Hagen | Minnesota 9th | 1943–1955 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1942 |
| John Bernard | Minnesota 8th | 1937–1939 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1936 |
| Dewey Johnson | Minnesota 5th | 1937–1939 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1936 |
| Franck R. Havenner | California 4th | 1937–1941, 1945–1953 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Henry Teigan | Minnesota 3rd | 1937–1939 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1936 |
| Thomas Ryum Amlie | Wisconsin 1st | 1935–1939 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Gerald J. Boileau | Wisconsin 7th | 1935–1939 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Rich T. Buckler | Minnesota 9th | 1935–1943 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1934 |
| Bernard J. Gehrmann | Wisconsin 10th | 1935–1943 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Harry Sauthoff | Wisconsin 2nd | 1935–1945 | Elected as a Progressive |
| George J. Schneider | Wisconsin 8th | 1935–1939 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Merlin Hull | Wisconsin 9th | 1935–1944 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Vito Marcantonio | New York 20th | 1935–1937, 1939–1945 | Elected from the American Labor Party ticket in 1938 |
| Gardner R. Withrow | Wisconsin 3rd | 1935–1939 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Henry M. Arens | Minnesota at-large | 1933–1935 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1932 |
| Magnus Johnson | Minnesota at-large | 1933–1935 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1932 |
| Ernest Lundeen | Minnesota 5th, Minnesota at-large, Minnesota 3rd | 1933–1937 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1932 |
| Francis Shoemaker | Minnesota at-large | 1933–1935 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1932 |
| Paul John Kvale | Minnesota 7th, Minnesota at-large | 1929–1939 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1928 |
| Knud Wefald | Minnesota 9th | 1923–1927 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1922 |
| Ole J. Kvale | Minnesota 7th | 1923–1929 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1922 |
| William Leighton Carss | Minnesota 8th | 1919–1929 | Elected as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1918 |
| Fiorello La Guardia | New York 14th, New York 20th | 1917–1919, 1923–1933 | Re-elected as a Socialist in 1924, ran as a Republican in all other elections |
| John A. Elston | California 6th | 1915–1921 | Elected as a Progressive in 1915 |
| Meyer London | New York 12th | 1915–1923 | Elected as a Socialist |
| Whitmell P. Martin | Louisiana 3rd | 1915–1929 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Thomas D. Schall | Minnesota 10th | 1915–1925 | Elected as a Progressive |
| Charles Hiram Randall | California 9th | 1915–1921 | Elected as a Prohibitionist |
| Walter M. Chandler | New York 19th | 1913–1919 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| James W. Bryan | Washington at-large | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| Jacob Falconer | Washington at-large | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| William H. Hinebaugh | Illinois 12th | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| Willis James Hulings | Pennsylvania 28th | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| William Josiah MacDonald | Michigan 12th | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| Milton William Shreve | Pennsylvania 25th | 1913–1915, 1919–1933 | Re-elected as an Independent Republican in 1920 |
| Henry Wilson Temple | Pennsylvania 24th | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| Charles M. Thomson | Illinois 10th | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| William Stephens | California 10th | 1911–1917 | Switched parties from a Republican to a Progressive in 1913 |
| Roy O. Woodruff | Michigan 10th | 1913–1915 | Elected as a Progressive in 1913 |
| Bill Kent | California 1st | 1913–1917 | Elected as an independent |
| Ira C. Copley | Illinois 11th | 1911–1923 | Switched from a Republican to a Progressive in 1915 |
| Victor L. Berger | Wisconsin 5th | 1911–1929 | Elected as a Socialist |
| Peter A. Porter | New York 34th | 1907–1909 | Elected as an Independent Republican |
| Caldwell Edwards | Montana at-large | 1901–1903 | Elected as a Populist |
| Thomas L. Glenn | Idaho at-large | 1901–1903 | Elected as a Silver |
| John Wilbur Atwater | North Carolina 4th | 1899–1901 | Elected as a Populist |
| William Neville | Nebraska 6th | 1899–1903 | Elected as a Populist |
| Edgar Wilson | Idaho at-large | 1899–1901 | Elected as a Silver Republican |
| Charles A. Barlow | California 6th | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Jeremiah D. Botkin | Kansas at-large | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Curtis H. Castle | California 7th | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| John Edgar Fowler | North Carolina 3rd | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| William Laury Greene | Nebraska 6th | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| James Gunn | Idaho at-large | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| William Carey Jones | Washington at-large | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Silver Republican |
| John Edward Kelley | South Dakota at-large | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Freeman Knowles | South Dakota at-large | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Charles Martin | North Carolina 6th | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Samuel Maxwell | Nebraska 3rd | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Nelson B. McCormick | Kansas 6th | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Mason S. Peters | Kansas 2nd | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Edwin R. Ridgely | Kansas 3rd | 1897–1901 | Elected as a Populist |
| William Ledyard Stark | Nebraska 4th | 1897–1903 | Elected as a Populist |
| Roderick Dhu Sutherland | Nebraska 5th | 1897–1901 | Elected as a Populist |
| William D. Vincent | Kansas 5th | 1897–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Albert Taylor Goodwyn | Alabama 5th | 1896–1897 | Elected as a Populist |
| John F. Shafroth | Colorado 1st | 1895–1904 | Switched from Republican to Silver Republican in 1897 |
| Milford W. Howard | Alabama 7th | 1895–1899 | Elected as a Populist in 1894 |
| Harry Skinner | North Carolina 1st | 1895–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| William Franklin Strowd | North Carolina 4th | 1895–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| John Calhoun Bell | Colorado 2nd | 1893–1903 | Elected as a Populist |
| Marion Cannon | California 6th | 1893–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Lafe Pence | Colorado 1st | 1893–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Alonzo C. Shuford | North Carolina 7th | 1893–1899 | Elected as a Populist |
| Thomas Jefferson Hudson | Kansas 3rd | 1893–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Haldor Boen | Minnesota 7th | 1893–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Bill Harris | Kansas at-large | 1893–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Bill Baker | Kansas 6th | 1891–1897 | Elected as a Populist |
| Benjamin H. Clover | Kansas 3rd | 1891–1893 | Elected as a Populist |
| John Davis | Kansas 5th | 1891–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Kittel Halvorson | Minnesota 5th | 1891–1893 | Elected as a Populist |
| Omer Madison Kem | Nebraska 3rd | 1891–1897 | Elected as a Populist |
| William A. McKeighan | Nebraska 2nd | 1891–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| John G. Otis | Kansas 4th | 1891–1893 | Elected as a Populist |
| Jerry Simpson | Kansas 7th | 1891–1895 | Elected as a Populist |
| Thomas E. Watson | Georgia 10th | 1891–1893 | Elected as a Populist |
| Lewis P. Featherstone | Arkansas 1st | 1889–1891 | Elected as a member of the Labor Party |
| Samuel I. Hopkins | Virginia 6th | 1887–1889 | Elected as a member of the Labor Party |
| John Nichols | North Carolina 4th | 1887–1889 | Elected as an independent |
| Henry Smith | Wisconsin 4th | 1887–1889 | Elected as a member of the Labor Party |
| Benjamin F. Shively | Indiana 13th | 1884–1885 | Elected as an Anti-Monopolist |
| James Ronald Chalmers | Mississippi 6th | 1883–1885 | Elected as an independent |
| Ted Lyman | Massachusetts 9th | 1883–1885 | Elected as an independent |
| Thomas P. Ochiltree | Texas 7th | 1883–1885 | Elected as an independent |
| Charles N. Brumm | Pennsylvania 13th | 1881–1909 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1880 |
| Joseph Henry Burrows | Missouri 10th | 1881–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1880 |
| Ira S. Haseltine | Missouri 6th | 1881–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1880 |
| James Mosgrove | Pennsylvania 25th | 1881–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1880 |
| Theron Moses Rice | Missouri 7th | 1881–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1880 |
| J. Hyatt Smith | New York 3rd | 1881–1883 | Elected as an independent |
| Bradley Barlow | Vermont 3rd | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Nicholas Ford | Missouri 9th | 1879–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Albert P. Forsythe | Illinois 15th | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Edward H. Gillette | Iowa 7th | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| George Jones | Texas 5th | 1879–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party |
| George W. Ladd | Maine 4th | 1879–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party |
| William M. Lowe | Alabama 8th | 1879–1882 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Gilbert De La Matyr | Indiana 7th | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Thompson H. Murch | Maine 5th | 1879–1883 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party |
| Henry Persons | Georgia 4th | 1879–1881 | Elected as an independent |
| Daniel Lindsay Russell | North Carolina 3rd | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party |
| Emory Speer | Georgia 9th | 1879–1883 | Elected as an independent |
| James Weaver | Iowa 6th | 1879–1889 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Hendrick Bradley Wright | Pennsylvania 12th | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |
| Seth Hartman Yocum | Pennsylvania 20th | 1879–1881 | Elected as a member of the United States Greenback Party in 1878 |