The Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced on Friday that he had registered as an independent, several months after saying he would not stand for re-election this November but also would not run for president as a rebel candidate.
The announcement raises further questions about his future political plans. Manchin has spent several years shoring up Democratic support in his deep-red state while making life difficult for the White House and Democrats in Congress in Washington DC with his often pivotal conservative influence over legislation, especially in relation to spending and the environment.
Manchin, who would have faced a tough re-election in November had he chosen to run, has long been an outspoken critic of the Democratic party. He has served in the Senate since 2010 and is chair of the Senate energy and natural resources committee.
He said in a statement that over the last 15 years he had seen both major political parties leave their constituents “behind for partisan extremism while jeopardizing our democracy”.
“Today, our national politics are broken and neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground,” Manchin said. “To stay true to myself and remain committed to put country before party, I have decided to register as an independent with no party affiliation and continue to fight for America’s sensible majority.”
Manchin did not disclose if he would continue caucusing with Democrats in the Senate, where they hold a wafer-thin majority. And he did not indicate if he would be running for higher office in the future. A request from the Associated Press for further comment from his office was not immediately returned.
Manchin announced in February that he would not be running for president, saying he didn’t want to be a “spoiler”, ending speculation about a run that would have thrown more chaos and confusion into an already tumultuous 2024 election season.
His announcement came against a backdrop of widespread voter dissatisfaction with both Biden, who at 81 years old is seen by many as being too old for a second term, and his opponent Donald Trump, 77, who is now a convicted felon and whose extremist rhetoric has spurred fears of a political crisis in the US should he win.
