Independent Democrat is a term occasionally adopted by members of the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
to refer to their party affiliation.
The first Independent Democrat in the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
was
Zadok CaseyZadok Casey was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1833 to 1843. He founded the city of Mount Vernon around 1817. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1822 and to the Illinois State Senate in 1826, and was elected Lieutenant Governor...
in the mid-19th century. Casey was a
Jacksonian DemocratJacksonian democracy is the political philosophy of United States President Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era...
before becoming an
IndependentIn politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
.
In 1848, a candidate for Mayor of Chicago,
James Hutchinson WoodworthJames Hutchinson Woodworth , a former member of both the State Senate and the State House of Representatives in the Illinois General Assembly, served consecutive terms as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois as an Independent Democrat, and served one term in the US House of Representatives...
, 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.
Independent Democrat is a term occasionally adopted by members of the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
to refer to their party affiliation.
The first Independent Democrat in the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
was
Zadok CaseyZadok Casey was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1833 to 1843. He founded the city of Mount Vernon around 1817. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1822 and to the Illinois State Senate in 1826, and was elected Lieutenant Governor...
in the mid-19th century. Casey was a
Jacksonian DemocratJacksonian democracy is the political philosophy of United States President Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era...
before becoming an
IndependentIn politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
.
In 1848, a candidate for Mayor of Chicago,
James Hutchinson WoodworthJames Hutchinson Woodworth , a former member of both the State Senate and the State House of Representatives in the Illinois General Assembly, served consecutive terms as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois as an Independent Democrat, and served one term in the US House of Representatives...
, 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 election in his first campaign 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.
Strom ThurmondJames Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina and as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral...
of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
was elected to the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
in 1954 and served as an Independent Democrat in the
84th CongressThe Eighty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1955 to January 3, 1957, during the third and...
until his resignation on April 4, 1956. In November of that year he was elected as a
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
to fill the vacancy created by his resignation. Thurmond later became a member of the Republican Party in 1964.
Harry F. Byrd, Jr.Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. is an American politician. He represented Virginia in the United States Senate from 1965 to 1983. He is most notable for leaving the Democratic Party in 1970 and becoming an Independent, although he continued to caucus with the Democrats. He is the son of Harry F...
, a senator from
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
, left the Democratic Party in 1970. He continued to
caucusA congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives. Formally, caucuses are formed as Congressional Member Organizations through the United States House of Representatives and governed under the rules of that chamber...
with the Democrats and referred to himself as an Independent Democrat.
U.S. Senator
Joseph LiebermanJoseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut. First elected to the Senate in 1988, Lieberman was elected to a fourth term on November 7, 2006...
of
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
served as a Democrat but was defeated for the Democratic nomination in the
2006 primaryThe 2006 election of a United States Senator from the state of Connecticut was held on November 7 2006. Incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman won the election with approximately 50% of the vote, and will serve a six-year term from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2013...
by businessman
Ned LamontEdward Miner "Ned" Lamont, Jr. was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in the Connecticut United States Senate election held on on November 7 2006...
by a 52%-48% margin. Lieberman decided to run as a third party candidate in the general election and won under the self-created
Connecticut for LiebermanConnecticut for Lieberman is a Connecticut political party created by twenty-five supporters of Senator Joe Lieberman. The party was created to enable Lieberman to run for re-election following his defeat in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic primary...
party, defeating Lamont – the official Democratic candidate – and the Republican candidate with 50 percent of the vote. Lieberman decided to
caucusA congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives. Formally, caucuses are formed as Congressional Member Organizations through the United States House of Representatives and governed under the rules of that chamber...
with the Democrats in the
110th United States CongressThe One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of...
, referring to himself as "an Independent Democrat, capital I, capital D," in an interview with
Tim RussertTimothy John Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program...
on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's
Meet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television show in worldwide broadcasting history, having made its television debut on November 6, 1947...
a week following the midterm elections, thus assuring Senate Democrats that they would hold the 51-49 majority they won in that year's elections.
Lieberman is officially listed as an "Independent Democrat" in U.S. Senate records for the
111th CongressThe One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the...
. This is distinct from
Bernie SandersBernard "Bernie" Sanders is the junior United States Senator from Vermont, elected on November 7, 2006. Before becoming Senator, Sanders represented Vermont's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives for 16 years.Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist, but because...
of
VermontThe State of Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area. It has a population of 621,270, making it the second least-populated state...
, who is officially listed as an Independent (not an "Independent Democrat"), but also
caucusesA congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives. Formally, caucuses are formed as Congressional Member Organizations through the United States House of Representatives and governed under the rules of that chamber...
with the Democrats.
See also
- Independent Republican
Independent Republican is a term occasionally adopted by members of Congress in the United States to refer to their party affiliation. It is also used for those on the state level who are Republicans but do not affiliate with the national Republican Party....
, the Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
counterpart.