Party switching in the United States
Encyclopedia
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politics, party switching
Party switching
Party-switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.In many countries, party-switching takes the form of politicians refusing to support their political parties in coalition governments...

is any change in party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one who is currently holding elected office. Use of the term "party switch" can also connote a transfer of held power in an elected governmental body from one party to another.

Motivations

There are a number of reasons why an elected official, or someone seeking office, might choose to switch parties. One reason is ethical obligation—the person feels their views are no longer aligned with those of their current party.

A second reason is to gain power and influence. The incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 may be a member of the minority party in a legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 and would like to gain the advantages of being in the majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...

 party, such as the potential to chair a committee.

Another reason is simply to get elected. This may be the primary reason when the opposing party's base
Base (politics)
In politics, the term base refers to a group of voters who almost always support a single party's candidates for elected office. Base voters are very unlikely to vote for the candidate of an opposing party, regardless of the specific views each candidate holds...

 in a constituency is reaching a size that threatens the safe reelection
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

 of the incumbent.

The 19th century

The shifting of allegiance between political parties was much more common during the 19th century than it is today. It took several years for political parties as we know them today to coalesce after the founding of the United States, and many parties formed and fell apart rapidly.

A massive party switch occurred in the 19th century and 1810s when many members of the United States Federalist Party joined the United States Democratic-Republican Party. When this party fell apart in the 1820s, its members all switched to various political parties, including the United States Whig Party, as well as the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, National Republican, Anti-Jackson and Anti-Mason Parties. The Republican Party was also formed by a massive party switch in 1854 when northern members of the Whig, American and Free Soil
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership...

 parties, along with a few northern Democrats, formed the Republican Party, and many Southern Whigs became Democrats. Following the United States Civil War the Republican Party faced several massive party switches. As Reconstruction ended, many Southern Republicans became Democrats. In 1872 Republicans dissatisfied with President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 formed the Liberal Republican Party and had a joint presidential campaign with the Democrats. Most Liberal Republicans soon returned to the main Republican Party, however. A similar situation occurred in 1884 when the mugwump
Mugwump
The Mugwumps were Republican political activists who bolted from the United States Republican Party by supporting Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. They switched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican...

s left the Republican Party and supported the Democratic presidential candidate, later rejoining the Republican party. The next major conflict in the Republican Party occurred in 1896 when Republican supporters of Free silver
Free Silver
Free Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...

 left the party to form the Silver Republicans, though again most of these politicians later rejoined the Republican Party. By the late 19th century, as the Democratic and Republican parties became more established, however, party switching became less frequent.

The 20th century

The shifts in American voter demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

 beginning in the second half of the 20th century - the southern states from Democratic to Republican, and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 and the west coastal states from Republican to Democratic - have prompted several incumbent federal legislators
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and many state legislators to switch parties. In addition, as changes in state laws made it harder and harder for members of third parties
Third party (politics)
In a two-party system of politics, the term third party is sometimes applied to a party other than the two dominant ones. While technically the term is limited to the third largest party or third oldest party, it is common, though innumerate, shorthand for any smaller party.For instance, in the...

 to be elected or re-elected, many former members of these parties became members of the two dominant parties
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...

.

1800s

  • 1855 – Reuben Fenton
    Reuben Fenton
    Reuben Eaton Fenton was an American merchant and politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of a farmer. He was elected a colonel of the New York State Militia in 1840. He became a lumber merchant, and entered politics as a Democrat...

    , Congressman who was opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 lost election that year. In 1856 switched to Republican to run for old seat won election, . Switched to Liberal Republican Party
    Liberal Republican Party (United States)
    The Liberal Republican Party of the United States was a political party that was organized in Cincinnati in May 1872, to oppose the reelection of President Ulysses S. Grant and his Radical Republican supporters. The party's candidate in that year's presidential election was Horace Greeley, longtime...

     in 1872 while Governor of New York
    Governor of New York
    The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...

    . Once again became a Democrat when party fused with the Democratic Party.
  • 1856 – Hannibal Hamlin
    Hannibal Hamlin
    Hannibal Hamlin was the 15th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War...

    , before running for governor of Maine
    Governor of Maine
    The governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive....

    , later Vice President of the United States
  • 1856 – Simon Cameron
    Simon Cameron
    Simon Cameron was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War. After making his fortune in railways and banking, he turned to a life of politics. He became a U.S. senator in 1845 for the state of Pennsylvania,...

    , before running for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

  • 1856 – Galusha A. Grow
    Galusha A. Grow
    Galusha Aaron Grow was a prominent U.S. politician, lawyer, writer and businessman, and was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863. He was defeated for reelection in 1862...

    , while U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

    , later Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...

  • 1856 - Glenni William Scofield
    Glenni William Scofield
    Glenni William Scofield was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Glenni W. Scofield was born in Dewittville, New York. He attended the common schools and learned the printing trade. He returned to classical study and graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton,...

    , , while U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

  • 1860s – Benjamin Franklin Butler
    Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)
    Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as the 33rd Governor of Massachusetts....

  • 1860s – James M. Hinds
    James M. Hinds
    James M. Hinds of Little Rock, represented Arkansas in the United States Congress from June 24, 1868 through October 22, 1868 when he was assassinated by a member of the Ku Klux Klan, namely George A. Clark, Secretary of the Democratic Committee of Monroe County, who was drunk at the time...

  • mid 1860s – Thompson Campbell
    Thompson Campbell
    Thompson Campbell was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.-Life:Born in Ireland, Campbell immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He attended public schools, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

  • mid 1860s – John A. Logan
    John A. Logan
    John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state senator, congressman and senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President...

     Illinois
    Illinois
    Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

     U.S. Representative resigned to volunteer to fight in American Civil War
    American Civil War
    The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

     after war elected as Republican U.S Rep.
  • mid 1860s – John Adams Dix
    John Adams Dix
    John Adams Dix was an American politician from New York. He served as Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Senator, and the 24th Governor of New York. He was also a Union major general during the Civil War.-Early life and career:...

  • 1869 – David P. Lewis
    David P. Lewis
    David Peter Lewis was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1872 to 1874. After his term was over, a Republican would not be elected Governor of Alabama for 119 years.He had previously been a delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861. In 1868 he was a delegate to the...

    , before running for Governor of Alabama
  • 1870 – James Lawrence Orr
    James Lawrence Orr
    James Lawrence Orr was an American politician who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in the United States Congress...

    , judge of the Eighth Circuit in South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

     and former governor of South Carolina
    Governor of South Carolina
    The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...

  • 1893 – James A. Walker
    James A. Walker
    James Alexander Walker was a Virginia lawyer, politician, and Confederate general during the American Civil War, later serving as a United States Congressman for two terms...

    , Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
    Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
    The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Lieutenant Governor is elected every four years along with the Governor and Attorney General. The office is currently held by Republican William T. Bolling. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected...

    , turned Republican before running for Congress

1900–1949

  • 1911 – Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo
    Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo
    Octavio Ambrosio Larrazolo served as the fourth Governor of New Mexico and a United States Senator. He was the first United States Senator of Mexican-American heritage....

     of New Mexico
    New Mexico
    New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

    , switched to Republican after the State Convention denied his request that half of all statewide nominees be Hispanic (request not granted as Republican either)
  • 1921 – Theodore A. Bell
    Theodore A. Bell
    Theodore Arlington Bell was a Democratic politician from California.-Biography:Born in Vallejo, California, he began his political career as District Attorney of Napa County, California between 1895-1903. He served on the 58th congress from 1903 to 1905 representing the 2nd district. In the 1904...

     of California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

    , following successful political career switched parties a year before his death
  • 1933 – Raymond Moley
    Raymond Moley
    Raymond Charles Moley was a leading New Dealer who became its bitter opponent before the end of the Great Depression....

    , due to anger over the New Deal
    New Deal
    The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

  • 1939 – Wendell Willkie
    Wendell Willkie
    Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...

     of Indiana
    Indiana
    Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

    , before running for President in the 1940 election
    United States presidential election, 1940
    The United States presidential election of 1940 was fought in the shadow of World War II as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue...

  • 1949 – Joseph A. McArdle
    Joseph A. McArdle
    Joseph A. McArdle was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Joseph A. McArdle was born in Muncie, Indiana. In 1905, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his parents...

     of Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

     switched parties following successful political career as a Pennsylvania state Representative
    Pennsylvania House of Representatives
    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

    , U.S. Representative
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

    , and member of the Pittsburgh city council
  • 1949 – Rush D. Holt, Sr. of West Virginia
    West Virginia
    West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

     after unsuccessful candidate for the 1948 Democratic nomination for United States Senator http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000749

1950s

  • 1952 - Henry Hyde
    Henry Hyde
    Henry John Hyde , an American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's northwestern suburbs which included O'Hare International Airport...

    , later became U.S. Representative for Illinois (1975-2007)
  • 1956 – Cora Brown
    Cora Brown
    Cora Mea Brown , was the first African-American woman elected to a United States state senate, winning a seat in the Michigan State Senate in 1952.-Early life:...

     of Michigan
    Michigan
    Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

    , State Senator
    Michigan Senate
    The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....

     left Democratic Party because she believed it was too heavily influenced by the Congress of Industrial Organizations
    Congress of Industrial Organizations
    The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...

  • 1958 - Odell Pollard
    Odell Pollard
    Odell Pollard is a retired attorney in Searcy, the seat of White County in central Arkansas, who was a pioneer in the revitalization of the Republican Party in his state.-Early years:...

    , an attorney from Searcy
    Searcy, Arkansas
    Searcy is the largest city and county seat of White County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,663. It is the principal city of the Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of White County...

    , Arkansas
    Arkansas
    Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

    , voted in his last Democratic primary in 1958 before switching allegiance to the GOP; he was the Arkansas State Republican Chairman under Governor Winthrop Rockefeller
    Winthrop Rockefeller
    Winthrop Rockefeller was a politician and philanthropist who served as the first Republican Governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He was a third-generation member of the Rockefeller family.-Early life:...

     from 1966-1970.
  • 1959 – Francis Grevemberg
    Francis Grevemberg
    Francis Carroll Grevemberg , was the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police from 1952 to 1955, best remembered for his fight against organized crime....

     of Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

    , before running for Governor of Louisiana in 1960
  • 1959 – Dud Lastrapes
    Dud Lastrapes
    William Dudley "Dud" Lastrapes, Jr. , is a Lafayette, businessman, who was the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected mayor of his city, the fourth largest in Louisiana, according to the 2000 census. Lastrapes was mayor for three terms, having served from 1980-1992. Previously,...

     of Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

    , as a television anchorman long before he was elected mayor
    Mayor
    In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

     of Lafayette, Louisiana
    Lafayette, Louisiana
    Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

     in 1980

1960s

  • early 1960s – Arthur Ravenel, Jr.
    Arthur Ravenel, Jr.
    Arthur Ravenel, Jr. is a businessman and a Republican politician from Charleston, South Carolina.-Early life:The Charleston-born Ravenel served in the United States Marine Corps from 1945 to 1946. He thereafter received a bachelor of science degree from the College of Charleston in 1950. He is a...

     of South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

    , before running for the South Carolina Senate
    South Carolina Senate
    The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives...

  • 1960s – James F. Byrnes
    James F. Byrnes
    James Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as the 104th Governor of South Carolina...

     of South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

    , after endorsing many Republicans in the 1950s and 1960s
  • 1961 – Charlton Lyons
    Charlton Lyons
    Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...

     to run for Louisiana's 4th congressional district
    Louisiana's 4th congressional district
    Louisiana's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district is located in the northwestern part of the state and is based in Shreveport-Bossier City. It also includes the cities of Minden, DeRidder, and Natchitoches.The district is currently...

     seat
  • 1961 - Billy J. Guin of Shreveport
    Shreveport, Louisiana
    Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

    , to support Charlton Lyons for Congress
  • 1962 - Dave Treen, later became U.S. Representative for Louisiana (1973-1980) and Governor of Louisiana (1980-1984)
  • 1962 – Jack M. Cox
    Jack Cox (Texas)
    Jack M. Cox was an oil equipment executive from Houston and the 1962 Republican gubernatorial nominee in the state of Texas.-Early years:...

    , to run for Governor of Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

    ; losing to later Republican convert John B. Connally, Jr.
  • 1962 – James D. Martin
    James D. Martin
    James Douglas Martin is a retired Republican politician from the US state of Alabama. His 1962 campaign for the United States Senate was the first serious showing by a member of his party since Reconstruction....

    , to run for the U.S. Senate
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

  • 1962 – Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

     of California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

    , while an actor and former Screen Actors Guild
    Screen Actors Guild
    The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...

     president http://www.npr.org/news/specials/obits/reagan/
  • 1962 – Floyd Spence
    Floyd Spence
    Floyd Davidson Spence was a Republican politician from South Carolina.-Early life and education:Spence was born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1928, but spent most of his life in nearby Lexington County. Shortly after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring as...

    , while a South Carolina state Representative
    South Carolina House of Representatives
    The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the upper house being the South Carolina Senate. It consists of 124 Representatives elected to two year terms at the same time as US Congressional elections...

    ; ran for the House of Representatives as a Republican and lost, later elected to the state senate before making a successful run for the House
  • 1964 – Strom Thurmond
    Strom Thurmond
    James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served 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 votes...

    , while U.S. senator
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

     switched to the Republican party on September 16, 1964.
  • 1965 – Albert Watson, while U.S. Representative from South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

     (resigned before switching parties and re-won his seat in a special election)
  • 1965 – Arlen Specter
    Arlen Specter
    Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...

     of Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

    , while running for Philadelphia District Attorney; in 2009, he switched back to Democrat http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21812.html.
  • 1965 – Roderick Miller
    Roderick Miller
    Roderick Luke "Rod" Miller was a Lafayette attorney and a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party in Louisiana. He was the third Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives and the first ever from Lafayette Parish, now one of the stronger...

     (LA) after unsuccessfully run for judgeship in 1964
  • 1966 – Thomas A. Wofford
    Thomas A. Wofford
    Thomas Albert Wofford was a United States Senator from South Carolina. Born in Madden Station, Laurens County, South Carolina, he attended the public schools and graduated from the University of South Carolina at Columbia in 1928, and from Harvard University Law School in 1931...

    , before write-in campaign for State Senator from South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

  • 1966 – Len E. Blaylock
    Len E. Blaylock
    Len Everette Blaylock, Sr. , is a retired farmer, educator, small businessman, and Republican politician from tiny Nimrod in Perry County in northwestern Arkansas. He was state welfare commissioner under Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, the GOP gubernatorial nominee , the U.S...

    , to support Winthrop Rockefeller
    Winthrop Rockefeller
    Winthrop Rockefeller was a politician and philanthropist who served as the first Republican Governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He was a third-generation member of the Rockefeller family.-Early life:...

     for Governor of Arkansas
  • 1966 – Jerry Thomasson
    Jerry Thomasson
    Jerry Kreth Thomasson was a Democratic member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. He switched to the Republican Party in 1966, and unsuccessfully sought election as Arkansas attorney general in 1966 and 1968....

     of Arkansas
    Arkansas
    Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

    , switched from Democrat to Republican while an state Representative
    Arkansas House of Representatives
    The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the state. Each district has an average population of 26,734...

     to run for Attorney General of Arkansas
  • 1966 – Henry Grover
    Henry Grover
    Henry Cushing "Hank" Grover , was a conservative politician from the U.S. state of Texas best known for his relatively narrow defeat as the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1972. Grover was born in Corpus Christi. He died in Houston of Alzheimer's disease.Grover lived as a youth in San Antonio...

     of Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

    , switched from Democrat to Republican while a state Representative
    Texas House of Representatives
    The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

     before successfully running for Texas Senate
    Texas Senate
    The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the...

    .
  • 1967 – William E. Dannemeyer
    William E. Dannemeyer
    William Edwin Dannemeyer is a conservative American politician, activist, and author, known for his anti-gay political position. He is currently honorary national chairman of Citizens for a Better America. He served as U.S...

    , while serving as a superior court judge before returning to the California State Assembly
    California State Assembly
    The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

  • 1967 – Allison Kolb
    Allison Kolb
    Allison Ray Kolb was the Democratic auditor of Louisiana from 1952 to 1956, who angered many local officials in the pursuit of his job duties and was hence defeated by former Lieutenant Governor William J. "Bill" Dodd in the 1956 party primary...

     of Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

    , while seeking a political comeback running unsuccessfully for state Treasurer, lost 1956 Democratic primary for state auditor
  • 1968 – William Reynolds Archer, Jr.
    William Reynolds Archer, Jr.
    William Reynolds “Bill” Archer, Jr. is a former American lawyer and politician. Archer served two terms, from 1967 to 1971, in the Texas House of Representatives — changing from the Democratic to the Republican party in 1969 — and later represented Texas in the United States House as a Republican...

    , while a member of the Texas House of Representatives
    Texas House of Representatives
    The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

  • 1968 – Will Wilson
    Will Wilson
    Will Reid Wilson, Sr. was a prominent Democratic politician in his native Texas best known for his service as attorney general of Texas from 1957-1963. In 1968, he joined the Republican Party to support the election of Richard M. Nixon as U.S. President. Nixon thereafter named Wilson an assistant...

    , former Texas Attorney General
    Texas Attorney General
    The Texas Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Texas.The department has offices at the William P. Clements State Office Building at 300 West 15th Street in Austin.-History:...

     switched to support Richard M. Nixon in the 1968 presidential election
    United States presidential election, 1968
    The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...

  • 1968 - Comptroller General of Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     James L. Bentley
    James L. Bentley
    James Lynwood Bentley was a former Comptroller General of Georgia. He served in that capacity from 1963-71. Originally a Democrat, Bentley switched to the Republican Party in 1968 and unsuccessfully sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1970...

     switched to Republican.

1970s

  • 1970 – Jesse Helms
    Jesse Helms
    Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...

    , two years before running for the U.S. Senate
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from North Carolina
    North Carolina
    North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

  • 1970 – A. C. Clemons, while serving in the Louisiana Senate
  • 1970 – William Oswald Mills, before running for U.S. Representative from Maryland
    Maryland
    Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

  • 1970 - Bob Barr
    Bob Barr
    Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr, Jr. is a former federal prosecutorand a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of...

    , who later became U.S. Representative from Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     (1995-2003).
  • 1971 – Tillie K. Fowler
  • 1972 – Robert R. Neall
    Robert R. Neall
    Robert R. Neall is an American politician and Democrat who served as State Senator, State Delegate and County Executive of Anne Arundel County, Maryland....

    , before serving in the Maryland House of Delegates. He switched back to Democrat in 1999
  • 1972 – Trent Lott
    Trent Lott
    Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....

    , prior to running for the House of Representatives from Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

    . He was administrative assistant to Rules Committee chairman William Colmer
    William M. Colmer
    William Meyers Colmer was a Mississippi politician.Colmer was born in Moss Point, Mississippi, and attended Millsaps College...

    , who endorsed Lott as his successor despite Lott's party switch.
  • 1973 – Mills E. Godwin Jr.
    Mills E. Godwin Jr.
    Mills Edwin Godwin, Jr. of Chuckatuck, Virginia, was an American politician who was the 60th and 62nd Governor of Virginia for two non-consecutive terms, from 1966 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1978....

    , Democratic governor of Virginia
    Virginia
    The 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" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

     from 1966 to 1970, moved to the Republican Party and was reelected, serving as governor again from 1974 to 1978.
  • 1973 – Samuel I. Hayakawa, three years before running for the U.S. Senate
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 1973 – John Connally
    John Connally
    John Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...

    , not then in office; six years before he sought the Republican presidential nomination
  • 1975 – Elizabeth Dole
    Elizabeth Dole
    Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....

    , while employed by the Federal Trade Commission
    Federal Trade Commission
    The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

  • 1975 – John Jarman
    John Jarman
    John Jarman was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma for 26 years from January, 1951 to January, 1977.-Early life and career:...

    , while U.S. Representative from Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

    . He had served for 24 years in the House and said he was fed up with the Democratic party, which had been "taken over by liberals". He retired in 1976.
  • 1977 – A. J. McNamara
    A. J. McNamara
    Abel J. "Buddy" McNamara , usually known as A.J. McNamara, is a former Louisiana politician and judge of the New Orleans-based United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who served full-time from June 21, 1982, until the fall of 2001, when he assumed senior status.The New...

    , while serving in the Louisiana House
  • 1977 – Lane Carson
    Lane Carson
    Lane Anderson Carson is the head of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs in the administration of Governor Bobby Jindal. Carson is also a licensed building contractor and real estate broker, and an attorney in private practice. He resides in Covington, the seat of St. Tammany Parish...

     while serving in the Louisiana House
  • 1978 – Robert G. Jones, after leaving the Louisiana Senate
  • 1978 – Chris Smith, managed the unsuccessful 1976 New Jersey Senate primary campaign of Democrat, Steve Foley, switch parties to run for U.S. Rep. in 1978 (lost)/ran again 1980 (Won) still holds office http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/10/nyregion/decade-of-rep-smith-fluke-to-tactician.html?pagewanted=2.
  • late 1970s – Thomas Bliley, after being Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, and before election to U.S. House of Representatives
  • late 1970s – Michael F. "Mike" Thompson, while serving in the Louisiana House
  • 1979 – Charles Grisbaum, Jr.
    Charles Grisbaum, Jr.
    Charles H. Grisbaum, Jr. is the retired chief judge of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the New Orleans suburbs. The court is located in Gretna, the seat of Jefferson Parish...

    , member of the Louisiana House from Jefferson Parish
    Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
    Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....

  • 1979 – Ed Scogin
    Ed Scogin
    Edward C. Scogin, known as Ed Scogin , was from 1972-1992 a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Slidell in St. Tammany Parish in suburban New Orleans, Louisiana, known as a fiscal watchdog over state government...

    , member of the Louisiana House from St. Tammany Parish
    St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
    St. Tammany Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, in the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The parish seat is Covington....


1980s

  • 1980s – S. S. DeWitt
    S. S. DeWitt
    Sturgis Sprague DeWitt, known primarily as S.S. DeWitt was a farmer and businessman from Newellton and St. Joseph in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana who served as a conservative Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1964–1972.In 1963, DeWitt unseated 20-year...

    , after having left the Louisiana House of Representatives
  • 1980 – Sam Yorty, While trying to make political comeback bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate
  • 1980 – Mac Collins
    Mac Collins
    Michael Allen "Mac" Collins , American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005, representing the...

    , while county commissioner
  • 1980 – Jim Donelon
    Jim Donelon
    James J. "Jim" Donelon has been the Republican insurance commissioner of Louisiana since February 15, 2006.Donelon won a full-term as commissioner in the October 20, 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished with 606,534 votes and defeated three opponents, the closest of whom, Democrat Jim...

    , to run for Congress in a special election
  • 1980 – Jesse Monroe Knowles, while serving near the end of his term in the Louisiana Senate
  • 1980 – Frank D. White
    Frank D. White
    Frank Durward White was the 41st Governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He served a single two-year term from 1981 to 1983. He is one of only two people to have defeated President Bill Clinton in an election. Frank Durward White (June 4, 1933 – May 21, 2003) was...

    , to run for governor of Arkansas
  • 1980s – J.C. "Sonny" Gilbert, after having left office as a member of both houses of the Louisiana legislature
  • 1981 – Bob Stump
    Bob Stump
    Robert Lee "Bob" Stump was a U.S. Congressman from Arizona.-Early life and career:Stump was born in Phoenix, and was a U.S. Navy World War II combat veteran, where he served on the USS Tulagi from 1943 to 1946. He graduated from Tolleson High School in 1947, and Arizona State University in 1951...

    , while U.S. Representative from Arizona
    Arizona
    Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

  • 1981 – Eugene Atkinson
    Eugene Atkinson
    Eugene Vincent Atkinson was a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Atkinson was born in the Pittsburgh Metro Area city of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. Atkinson was the director of customs for the port of Pittsburgh from 1962 to 1969...

    , while U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

  • 1982 – Condoleezza Rice
    Condoleezza Rice
    Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

    , changed to Republican cites influence of her father, who switched from Democrat to Republican after being denied voting registration by the Democratic registrar (Al) 1952.
  • 1983 – Jimmy Fitzmorris
    Jimmy Fitzmorris
    James Edward "Jimmy" Fitzmorris, Jr. , is a New Orleans businessman and civic leader who was the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1972–1980...

    , to attempt to regain the office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
    Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
    The Office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current Lieutenant Governor is Jay Dardenne, a Republican...

  • 1983 – Phil Gramm
    Phil Gramm
    William Philip "Phil" Gramm is an American economist and politician, who has served as a Democratic Congressman , a Republican Congressman and a Republican Senator from Texas...

    , while U.S. Representative from Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

     (resigned before switching parties and re-won his seat in a special election)
  • 1983 – Bob Martinez
    Bob Martinez
    Robert Martinez was the 40th Governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. Prior to that, he was the mayor of Tampa from 1979 to 1986.- Education and early career :...

    , while mayor
    Mayor
    In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

     of Tampa, Florida
    Tampa, Florida
    Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

  • 1984 - Herman Cain
    Herman Cain
    Herman Cain is a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.Cain has a background as a business executive, syndicated columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He served as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza from 1986 to 1996...

    , after becoming CEO and reaching the top tax bracket
  • 1984 – V.J. Bella
    V.J. Bella
    Vincent Joseph Bella, known as V.J. Bella , is a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from St. Mary Parish whose service extended from 1972-1990. Thereafter, Bella served in Baton Rouge as the appointed state fire marshal from 1990–1992 and again from 1996-2004...

    , while serving in the Louisiana House of Representatives
  • 1984 – Andy Ireland
    Andy Ireland
    Andrew Poysell "Andy" Ireland was a U.S. Representative from Florida.Born to a wealthy family in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended a prestigious private school within the city. He finished his high school career at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, a school that is known as a stepping stone...

    , while U.S. Representative from Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

  • 1984 – H. Edward Knox
    H. Edward Knox
    Haden Edward "Eddie" Knox is a North Carolina attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina from 1979 until 1983....

    ; became an independent in 2005
  • 1985 – Jeane Kirkpatrick
    Jeane Kirkpatrick
    Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick was an American ambassador and an ardent anticommunist. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign and later in his Cabinet, the longtime Democrat-turned-Republican was nominated as the U.S...

    , while U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations http://www.nndb.com/people/193/000023124/#FN1
  • 1985 – Edward J. King
    Edward J. King
    Edward Joseph "Ed" King was the 66th Governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983.Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Boston College and Bentley College, King played professional football as a guard with the All-America Football Conference Buffalo Bisons from 1948 to...

    , former governor of Massachusetts
    Governor of Massachusetts
    The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...

  • 1985 – Dexter Lehtinen
    Dexter Lehtinen
    Dexter Wayne Lehtinen is an American attorney, former politician, interim U.S. Attorney for south Florida and a law professor. He is the husband of U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He is of Finnish ancestry....

    , while serving in the Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

     House of Representatives
  • 1985 – Kent Hance
    Kent Hance
    Kent "The Hancellor" Ronald Hance is a lobbyist and lawyer who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from West Texas, having served from 1979 to 1985...

    , former U.S. Representative, after losing the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

  • 1985 – Jock Scott
    Jock Scott
    John Wyeth "Jock" Scott, II was a lawyer and college professor in Alexandria, who served three terms from District 26 in the Louisiana House of Representatives, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican . He was defeated in a race for the Louisiana State Senate in 1987...

    , near the end of his tenure in the Louisiana House of Representatives
  • 1985 – Carole Keeton Strayhorn
    Carole Keeton Strayhorn
    Carole Keeton Strayhorn is the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts....

    , former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
    Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
    The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is an executive branch position created by the Texas Constitution. As with nearly every other executive branch head, the Comptroller is popularly elected every four years concurrently with the Governor and the other elected executive branch positions...

     (she ran for Texas Governor
    Texas gubernatorial election, 2006
    The 2006 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006 to select the next governor of the state of Texas, who is serving a four year term that began on January 16, 2007. The Republican and Democratic Parties chose their candidates by primaries and convention. Primaries were held on...

     as an independent in 2006)
  • 1986 – William Bennett
    William Bennett
    William John "Bill" Bennett is an American conservative pundit, politician, and political theorist. He served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988. He also held the post of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under George H. W...

    , while U.S. Secretary of Education
  • 1986 – Richard Baker
    Richard Baker (politician)
    Richard Hugh Baker , an American politician,is a lobbyist and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented the 6th District of Louisiana from 1987 to 2008.-Early life and career:...

    , While in Louisiana House of Representatives
    Louisiana House of Representatives
    The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...

     later in the year elected to U.S. House seat which opened up shortly after party switch.
  • 1986 – Charles T. Canady
    Charles T. Canady
    Charles Terrance Canady is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida and has been a Justice on the court since taking his seat in 2008...

    , while serving in the Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

     House of Representatives
  • 1986 – Frank Rizzo
    Frank Rizzo
    Francis Lazarro "Frank" Rizzo, Sr. was an American police officer and politician. He served two terms as mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from January 1972 to January 1980; he was Police Commissioner for four years prior to that.-Police Commissioner:Rizzo joined the Philadelphia Police...

    , before running for Mayor of Philadelphia in 1987
  • 1986 – James David Santini
    James David Santini
    James David Santini was a United States Representative from Nevada.Santini was born in Reno, Nevada attended the University of Nevada, Reno where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He was a lawyer before entering politics. He was elected to the US House in 1974, easily unseating...

    , before running for U.S. Senator from Nevada
    Nevada
    Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

  • 1987 – Paul Hardy
    Paul Hardy
    Paul Jude Hardy is a Baton Rouge attorney who was the first Republican to have been elected lieutenant governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction...

    , before running for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
    Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
    The Office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current Lieutenant Governor is Jay Dardenne, a Republican...

  • 1987 – Roy Moore
    Roy Moore
    Roy Stewart Moore is an American jurist and Republican politician noted for his refusal, as the elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse despite orders to do so from a federal judge...

    , prior to being appointed to an Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

     circuit judge
    Judge
    A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

    ship
  • 1988 – Jim McCrery
    Jim McCrery
    James Otis "Jim" McCrery, III , is an American lawyer who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1988 to 2009; he represented the 4th District of Louisiana, based in the northwestern quadrant of the state.McCrery was a ranking member on the House Ways and...

    , while running for U.S. Representative from Louisiana. He had been a staff member for Buddy Roemer
    Buddy Roemer
    Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...

    , but switched parties before the special election after Roemer was elected governor.
  • 1988 – David Duke
    David Duke
    David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...

    , prior for running for a seat in the lower house of the Louisiana state legislature
  • Mike Johanns
    Mike Johanns
    Michael Owen "Mike" Johanns is an American Republican politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Nebraska since 2009. Previously he was the 38th Governor of Nebraska from 1999 to 2005 and was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2005 to 2007, becoming the fourth Nebraskan to hold...

    , was The Governor of Nebraska (1999-2005), United States Secretary of Agriculture (2005-2007) and in 2009 became the United Staes Senator for Nebraska.
  • 1989 – Edward Vrdolyak
    Edward Vrdolyak
    Edward Robert Vrdolyak is a noted Chicago lawyer and politician and a convicted felon. He was a powerful longtime Chicago Alderman and also head of the Cook County Democratic Party before running unsuccessfully for Mayor of Chicago as a Republican...

    , After running for Mayor of Chicago as Solidarity Party
    Solidarity Party
    The Solidarity Party was an American political party in the state of Illinois. It was named after Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity movement in Poland, which was widely-admired in Illinois at the time .The party was founded in 1986 by Senator Adlai Stevenson III in reaction to the Democratic Party's...

     candidate earlier in the year switched to Republican on September 16, 1987 http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/16/us/ex-leader-of-democrats-in-chicago-switches-party.html
  • 1989 – Bill Grant
    James W. Grant
    James William "Bill" Grant is an American banker and former politician from Madison, Florida.A graduate of Florida State University, he attended the University of Florida for graduate studies. He represented in the U. S. Congress from 1987 to 1991...

    , while U.S. Representative from Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

  • 1989 – Tommy F. Robinson
    Tommy F. Robinson
    Tommy Franklin Robinson is a politician from the state of Arkansas.-Early life:Robinson was born in Little Rock and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He served in the United States Navy from 1959 to 1963....

    , while U.S. Representative from Arkansas
    Arkansas
    Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

  • 1989 – Rick Perry
    Rick Perry
    James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

    , before running for Agriculture Commissioner of Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

  • 1989 – W. Fox McKeithen
    W. Fox McKeithen
    Walter Fox McKeithen served five terms as Secretary of State of Louisiana between 1988 and 2005. He is best remembered for merging the state's election divisions into one department and for the promotion of historical preservation.-Son of a governor:He was born Walter Fox McKeithen in Columbia in...

    , while Louisiana Secretary of State
    Secretary of State
    Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....


1990s

  • early 1990s – Eli Bebout
    Eli Bebout
    Eli Daniel Bebout is a veteran Wyoming politician and a member of the Wyoming State Senate. He represents District 26 from Riverton, the seat of Fremont County in the central portion of his state. A Republican, Bebout is a former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, Speaker of the...

    , while serving in the Wyoming
    Wyoming
    Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

     House of Representatives
  • 1990s – Herman Badillo
    Herman Badillo
    Herman Badillo is a Bronx, New York politician who has been a borough president, United States Representative, and candidate for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Puerto Rican to be elected to these posts and be a mayoral candidate in the continental United States.-Early years:Badillo was...

    , before running for Mayor of New York City
  • c. 1990 – Tom Vandergriff
    Tom Vandergriff
    Tommy Joe Vandergriff was a politician from Texas. He served as Mayor of Arlington from 1951 to 1977, as a U.S. Representative from from 1983 to 1985, and as County Judge of Tarrant County from 1991 to 2007...

    , while running for county judge of Tarrant County, Texas
    Tarrant County, Texas
    Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...

     (had served as mayor of Arlington
    Arlington, Texas
    Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...

    , a nonpartisan position, and in Congress as a Democrat)
  • 1990 – Joseph F. Toomy
    Joseph F. Toomy
    Joseph Francis Toomy, known as Joe Toomy , is a self-employed insurance broker from Gretna, the seat of Jeffersons Parish, Louisiana, who served as the District 85 member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1984 until term-limited in 2008. Toomy was a Democrat from 1984–1990, when he...

    , member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
    Louisiana State Legislature
    The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

     from Republican-leaning Jefferson Parish
    Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
    Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....

    , served 1984–2008
  • 1990 – Vito Fossella
    Vito Fossella
    Vito John Fossella, Jr. is a U.S. Republican politician from the state of New York who formerly represented the state's 13th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms, from 1997 to 2009 serving as the lone Republican from New York City. Fossella, a Staten Island...

    , U.S. Representative from New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     from 1997 to 2009.
  • 1990 – Lauch Faircloth
    Lauch Faircloth
    Duncan McLauchlin "Lauch" Faircloth , served one term as a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.Before his Senate service, Faircloth was a prominent and wealthy hog farmer...

    , to run for the U.S. Senate in 1992
  • 1991 – Bret Schundler
    Bret Schundler
    Bret D. Schundler is an American politician from New Jersey. He served in the Cabinet of Governor Chris Christie as New Jersey Commissioner of Education until he was dismissed on August 27, 2010....

    , before running for the New Jersey Senate
    New Jersey Senate
    The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. From 1844 until 1965 New Jersey's counties elected one Senator, each. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947...

  • 1991 – David Beasley
    David Beasley
    David Muldrow Beasley is a Republican who served one term as the 113th Governor of South Carolina from 1995 until 1999....

    , South Carolina state representative switched in 1991. Three years later became Governor of South Carolina
    Governor of South Carolina
    The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...

     (1995-1999)
  • 1991 – Buddy Roemer
    Buddy Roemer
    Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...

    , Governor of Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

     switched parties shortly before the beginning of his unsuccessful reelection campaign
  • 1992 – Byron Looper
    Byron Looper
    Byron Looper , is a former Republican politician in Tennessee. In order to advance his political career, he legally changed his middle name from "Anthony" to ""...

    , before running for State Representative in Tennessee
    Tennessee
    Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

  • 1993 – Edward H. Krebs
    Edward H. Krebs (Pennsylvania politician)
    Edward H. Krebs is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.He is a 1961 graduate of Annville-Cleona High School. He earned a degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1965, an M.S. from University of Massachusetts in 1967, and a Ph.D...

    , Pennsylvania State Representative
    Pennsylvania House of Representatives
    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

     became a Republican in December 1993.
  • 1993 – Don W. Williamson
    Don W. Williamson
    Donald Wayne Williamson, usually known as Don Williamson , is a semiretired American businessman in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in north Louisiana, who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature between 1968 and 1980...

    , former Louisiana state senator who opposed the Clinton administration
  • 1994 – Ron Gomez
    Ron Gomez
    Ronald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez , is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989. From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in...

    , former member of the Louisiana House
  • 1994 – Walter B. Jones
    Walter B. Jones
    Walter Beaman Jones, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district encompasses the Outer Banks and areas near the Pamlico Sound. Jones' father was Walter B. Jones, Sr., a Democratic Party congressman from the neighboring 1st district...

    , while running for U.S. Representative from North Carolina
    North Carolina
    North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

  • 1994 – Ed Whitfield
    Ed Whitfield
    Wayne Edward "Ed" Whitfield is the U.S. Representative of , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party.The district covers much of the western part of the state, including Hopkinsville, Paducah, Henderson and Kentucky's share of Fort Campbell.-Early life, education and...

    , the day before filing as a candidate for the U.S. House in Kentucky
    Kentucky
    The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

  • 1994 – Ron Gomez
    Ron Gomez
    Ronald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez , is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989. From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in...

    , former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
    Louisiana State Legislature
    The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

     from Lafayette
    Lafayette, Louisiana
    Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

     switched to Republican after unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Lafayette
    Lafayette, Louisiana
    Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

     in 1992
  • 1994 – Mike Bowers
    Mike Bowers
    -Early Life:Michael Joseph Bowers was a long-serving Attorney General of Georgia before switching parties and mounting an unsuccessful campaign for Georgia Governor. He now practices law with Balch & Bingham in Atlanta, Georgia.Bowers graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1963 and...

    , while Attorney General of Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

  • 1994 – Fob James
    Fob James
    Forrest Hood James, Jr., known as Fob James , is an American politician, a civil engineer, and an all-American half-back...

    , while running for Governor of Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

  • 1994 – Richard Shelby
    Richard Shelby
    Richard Craig Shelby is the senior U.S. Senator from Alabama. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was its chairman from 2003 to 2007....

    , while U.S. Senator from Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

     switched on November 9, 1994
  • 1994 – Woody Jenkins
    Woody Jenkins
    Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....

    , while Louisiana state House member
  • 1994 – Dan Richey
    Dan Richey
    Daniel Wesley "Dan" Richey is a Baton Rouge-based political consultant for "pro-family" candidates and organizations, including Louisiana Family Forum. From 1997 to 2004, Richey served under appointment of Republican Governor Murphy J...

    , former Louisiana Democratic state legislator switched from Independent to Republican when the Republicans won control of the U.S. Congress
  • 1994 – Ed Austin
    Ed Austin
    T. Edward "Ed" Austin, Jr. was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit from 1963 to 1968, and served as State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit from...

    , while Mayor of Jacksonville
  • 1995 - Donald Ray Kennard
    Donald Ray Kennard
    Donald Ray Kennard was an educator, athletic director, and politician who represented part of East Baton Rouge Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1976 to 2008...

    , as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
    Louisiana State Legislature
    The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

    , where he continued to serve until 2008
  • 1995 – Jimmy Hayes
    Jimmy Hayes
    James Allison "Jimmy" Hayes is a Republican politician from the state of Louisiana.Born in Lafayette, Hayes graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette . He served in the Louisiana Air National Guard from 1968 to 1974...

    , while U.S. Representative from Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

  • 1995 – Greg Laughlin
    Greg Laughlin
    Gregory H. "Greg" Laughlin is a politician from the state of Texas. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives....

    , while U.S. Representative from Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

  • 1995 – Ben Nighthorse Campbell
    Ben Nighthorse Campbell
    Benjamin Nighthorse Campbell is an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 until 2005 and was during his tenure the only American Indian serving in the U.S. Congress. Campbell was a three term U.S. Representative from 1987 to 1993, when he was sworn into office as a...

    , while U.S. Senator from Colorado
    Colorado
    Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

    , switch March 3, 1995
  • 1995 – Billy Tauzin
    Billy Tauzin
    Wilbert Joseph Tauzin II , usually known as Billy Tauzin, American lobbyist and politician of Cajun descent, was President and CEO of PhRMA, a pharmaceutical company lobby group...

    , while U.S. Representative from Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

  • 1995 – Nathan Deal
    Nathan Deal
    John Nathan Deal is a United States politician, the 82nd and current Governor of Georgia. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1992 but switched to the Republican Party in 1995...

    , while U.S. Representative from Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7D6163DF932A25757C0A963958260
  • 1995 – Mike Parker, while U.S. Representative from Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

  • 1995 - Susana Martinez
    Susana Martinez
    Susana Martinez is the 31st and current governor of New Mexico.A Republican, Martinez is the first female governor of New Mexico, as well as the first female Hispanic governor in the United States. She was formerly the district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of the U.S. state of New Mexico...

    , who in 2011 became the 31st and current Governor of New Mexico
  • 1995 – Mike Foster
    Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
    Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...

    , while running successfully for Governor of Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

  • 1995 – Rusty Crowe
    Rusty Crowe
    Dewey "Rusty" Crowe , is a Tennessee politician and a member of the Tennessee Senate representing the 3rd district, which encompasses Washington County and Carter County; and inventor owning U.S...

    , Tennessee state senator
  • 1995 – Milton H. Hamilton, Jr
    Milton H. Hamilton, Jr
    Milton H. Hamilton, Jr. was a Tennessee politician who served in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly and was majority leader of the Tennessee State Senate and Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation.-Early life:Hamilton was born in Obion County, Tennessee in 1932. He was...

    , Tennessee state senator
  • 1996 - Former U.S. Representative for Oklahoma (1977-1991) Wes Watkins
    Wes Watkins
    Wesley Wade "Wes" Watkins is a politician from the state of Oklahoma. He is a retired member of the United States House of Representatives where Watkins had represented Oklahoma's 3rd Congressional District for 14 years as a Democrat and then for six years as a Republican.-Early life and...

     joined the Republicans and was elected as U.S. Representative for Oklahoma (1997-2003)
  • 1996 – Ronnie Culbreth, while Georgia State Rep.
  • 1996 – Norm Coleman
    Norm Coleman
    Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...

    , while mayor
    Mayor
    In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

     of St. Paul, Minnesota
  • 1996 – Jay Blossman
    Jay Blossman
    Jack Arthur Blossman, Jr., known as Jay Blossman , is a Mandeville, Louisiana, attorney who is a former Republican member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Blossman was named PSC chairman by his colleagues early in 2007....

    , to run successfully for the office of Louisiana Public Service Commission
    Louisiana Public Service Commission
    Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...

  • 1997 – Kevin Mannix
    Kevin Mannix
    Kevin Leese Mannix is a politician, business attorney, and former chairman of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Oregon.Mannix has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as a Democrat and, later, a Republican...

    , after losing Democratic nomination for Oregon Attorney General
    Oregon Attorney General
    The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The Attorney General is chosen by statewide partisan election to serve a term...

     in 1996
  • 1997 – Michael J. Michot
    Michael J. Michot
    Michael John "Mike" Michot is the departing senior Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, having represented District 23 since the year 2000. He is the outgoing hairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Michot was unopposed for his third Senate term in the nonpartisan blanket primary...

    , while serving in the Louisiana House
  • 1998 – George Wallace, Jr.
    George Wallace, Jr.
    George Corley Wallace, III is an American politician from Alabama.-Personal life:...

    , before running for Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

     Public Service Commissioner
  • 1998 – Herman Badillo
    Herman Badillo
    Herman Badillo is a Bronx, New York politician who has been a borough president, United States Representative, and candidate for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Puerto Rican to be elected to these posts and be a mayoral candidate in the continental United States.-Early years:Badillo was...

  • 1998 – David G. Boschert
  • 1998 – Sonny Perdue
    Sonny Perdue
    George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III, was the 81st Governor of Georgia. Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin F. Conley served during Reconstruction in the 1870s....

    , while a Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     State Senator
  • 1999 – Nancy Larraine Hoffmann
    Nancy Larraine Hoffmann
    Nancy Larraine Hoffmann is a former Republican State Senator from Central New York State.-Career:She was first elected in 1984 to the New York State Senate representing Syracuse, New York and its surrounding environs, including suburbs and rural areas, as a Democrat...

    , while New York State Senator; defeated in 2006
  • 1999 – Joel Giambra
    Joel Giambra
    Joel Giambra is the former County Executive in Erie County, New York. The county seat is Buffalo, New York, where Giambra currently resides.-Early life:...

    , before running for County Executive in Erie County, New York

2000s

  • 2000 – Robert J. Barham
    Robert J. Barham
    Robert Jocelyn Barham is a large-scale farmer from Morehouse Parish who has been appointed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as the secretary of the state's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries...

    , while serving in the Louisiana State Senate
  • 2000 – Matthew G. Martinez
    Matthew G. Martínez
    Matthew Gilbert "Marty" Martínez was a Congressional representative who was both a member of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party from California's 30th congressional district from 1983 to 1993 and California's 31st congressional district from 1993 to 2001...

    , while U.S. Representative from California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 2000 – John Hoeven
    John Hoeven
    John Henry Hoeven III is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Republican Party. He is expected to become the state's senior senator when Kent Conrad retires from the Senate in January 2013.Hoeven served as the 31st Governor of North Dakota,...

     to run successfully for Governor of North Dakota
    Governor of North Dakota
    The Governor of North Dakota is the chief executive of North Dakota. The current Governor is Jack Dalrymple. The Governor has the right to sign and laws, and to call the Legislative Assembly, into emergency session. The Governor is also chairman of the North Dakota Industrial Commission. The...

     and in 2011 became the United States Senator for North Dakota.
  • 2000 - Tom McVea
    Tom McVea
    Thomas Houston McVea, known as Tom McVea , is a cattleman from St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, who is a retiring Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 62, which encompasses parts of the Florida Parishes of East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana,...

    , a Democratic state representative from Louisiana from 1980 to 1984, switched parties and ran successfully for the first of three terms as a Republican in the Louisiana House from a Baton Rouge-area district.
  • 2001 – Clinton LeSueur
    Clinton LeSueur
    Clinton Bernard LeSueur is an American politician and journalist from the state of Mississippi.-Personal life:LeSueur was born and raised in Holly Springs, Mississippi as the son of a Church of God in Christ minister. He now lives in Greenville...

    , before running for U.S. Representative from Mississippi
  • 2001 – Michael Bloomberg
    Michael Bloomberg
    Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

    , before running for mayor of New York City
    Mayor of New York City
    The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...

    , but later became an Independent
  • 2001 – Hunt Downer
    Hunt Downer
    Major General Huntington Blair Downer, Jr., known as Hunt Downer , is a Republican politician in the U.S. state of Louisiana who is the assistant adjutant general of the state National Guard and the first ever director of the new Louisiana Veterans Affairs Department.A former Speaker of the...

    , before running for Governor of Louisiana
  • 2002 – Amy Tuck
    Amy Tuck
    Amy Tuck was the 30th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. A Republican, she is only the second woman elected to statewide office in Mississippi and the first to have been re-elected.-Biography:...

    , while Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
    Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
    The Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking executive officer in Mississippi, right below the governor. The office of lieutenant governor was established when Mississippi became a state, abolished for a few decades in the first half of the 19th century, and restored later...

  • 2002 – Olga A. Méndez
    Olga A. Méndez
    Olga A. Méndez was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to a state legislature in the United States mainland.-Early years:...

    , while New York State Senator
  • 2002 – Don Cheeks, while a Georgia State Senator
  • 2002 – Dan Lee, while a Georgia State Senator
  • 2002 – Rooney Bowen, while a Georgia State Senator
  • 2002 – Jack Hill, while a Georgia State Senator
  • 2002 – Virgil Goode
    Virgil Goode
    Virgil Hamlin Goode, Jr. , is an American politician, last serving as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented the 5th congressional district of Virginia from 1997 to 2009...

    , while U.S. Representative from Virginia
    Virginia
    The 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" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

    , first became an Independent in 2000, then joined the Republican Party in 2002.
  • 2003 – James David Cain
    James David Cain
    James David Cain, Sr. is a retired farmer and rancher from the Dry Creek community in eastern Beauregard Parish, who is a former Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate....

    , prior to his final election to the Louisiana Senate
  • 2003 – Melinda Schwegmann
    Melinda Schwegmann
    Melinda B. Schwegmann was the lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 1992–1996 – the first woman to hold the position. She made an unsuccessful run for governor of Louisiana in 1995...

    , while State House member in Louisiana
  • 2003 – Rick Sheehy
    Rick Sheehy
    Rick Sheehy has been the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, since 2005.Appointed by Governor Dave Heineman on January 24, 2005, after Heineman became Governor upon Mike Johanns' appointment as United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush.Sheehy is a native...

    , while mayor of Hastings, Nebraska
    Hastings, Nebraska
    Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...

  • 2003 – Gabriel Vasquez, Houston City Councilmember (council seat is nonpartisan)
  • 2003 – Johnny Ford
    Johnny Ford
    Johnny L. Ford is an American politician and former mayor of Tuskegee, Alabama, and an Alabama State Representative. He was raised as a child and attended elementary school in Tuskegee. He is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute High School. Ford received his B.A...

    , Alabama Democratic state Rep., became first black Republican in the state legislature in over 100 years
  • 2004 – Ralph Hall
    Ralph Hall
    Ralph Moody Hall is a United States Representative from . First elected in 1980, Hall is the chairman of the Science Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee...

    , while U.S. Representative from Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

  • 2004 – Rodney Alexander
    Rodney Alexander
    Rodney McKinnie Alexander is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district covers twenty-two parishes in roughly the northeast quadrant of the state...

    , while U.S. Representative from Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

     (his switch just before the filing deadline prevented the Democrats from fielding a viable replacement candidate)
  • 2004 – Steve Beren
    Steve Beren
    Steve Beren is an American speaker, writer, and political activist from Seattle, Washington. Beren was also the 2006 and 2008 Republican candidate for U.S...

    , before running for U.S. Representative from Washington
  • 2005 – Michael Diven
    Michael Diven
    Michael B. Diven is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 22nd District. He was defeated in 2006.Diven is the son of Joey Diven, who Sports Illustrated once called "the world's toughest street fighter." Diven graduated from Duquesne University in 1993. He then served...

    , while in Pennsylvania state House, defeated in 2006 elections
  • 2005 – Dan Morrish
    Dan Morrish
    Dan Wesley Morrish, sometimes known as Blade Morrish , is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from Jennings, the seat of Jefferson Davis Parish in southwestern Louisiana....

    , Louisiana state representative switched parties in third term; elected to state Senate in 2007 as a Republican
  • 2006 – Sheri McInvale, Florida State Representative, defeated in 2006 elections
  • 2006 – Don McLeary
    Don McLeary
    Don McLeary is an American politician who was a member of the Tennessee Senate representing the 27th district, which is composed of Madison, Gibson, and Carroll counties.-Education and career:...

    , Tennessee state senator, defeated in 2006
  • 2006 – John Giannetti, Maryland State Senator, defeated in 2006
  • 2006 – Mickey Channell, while a Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     State Representative
  • 2006 – Will Kendrick
    Will Kendrick
    Will Kendrick, born April 10, 1960 in Apalachicola, Florida, was a four-term member of the Florida House of Representatives. He was first elected to the Florida House in November 2000 as Democrat. He switched to the Republican Party in 2006. He currently serves as chairman of the Committee on...

    , Florida State Representative, after being reelected as a Democrat
  • 2006 – Billy Montgomery
    Billy Montgomery
    Billy Wayne Montgomery, often known as Coach Montgomery , is a former educator who represented the Bossier City-based District 9 in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1988-2008...

    , while serving in the Louisiana House
  • 2006 – Henry Burns
    Henry Burns
    Henry Lee Burns is a freshman Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 9 in Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana. He also owns and operates the Wooden Spoon bakery in Bossier City and is a thoroughbred owner and breeder...

    , while serving on the Bossier Parish School Board; to run for the state legislature as a Republican
  • 2007 – James Walley, Mississippi State Senator. Walley was originally elected as a Democrat after defeating Tommy Dickerson, who had switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. However, Walley was then defeated in the 2007 legislative elections by Tommy Dickerson, now running as a Democrat once more.
  • 2007 – Tommy Gollott, current Mississippi State Senator from Biloxi
  • 2007 – Dawn Pettengill
    Dawn Pettengill
    Dawn Pettengill is the Iowa State Representative from the 39th District. She has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2005. On April 30, 2007, she switched to the Republican Party, having previously served in the House as a Democrat...

    , member of the Iowa House of Representatives
    Iowa House of Representatives
    The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 100 members of the House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 29,750 for each constituency...

  • 2007 - Frank A. Howard
    Frank A. Howard
    Frank A. Howard, also known as Frankie Howard , is a former sheriff of Vernon Parish in western Louisiana, who has been since 2008 a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 24, which includes De Soto, Red River, Sabine, and Vernon parishes.Howard studied in the...

    , a former Democratic sheriff of Vernon Parish
    Vernon Parish, Louisiana
    Vernon Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Leesville and as of 2000, the population was 52,531....

    , Louisiana, became a Republican to win the District 24 seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives.
  • 2007 – Mike Jacobs
    Mike Jacobs (Georgia politician)
    Mike Jacobs is a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives representing District 80, which makes up portions of northern DeKalb County.Jacobs is an attorney by profession...

    , while a Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

     State Representative http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2007/06/19/state_rep_mike_jacobs_switches.html
  • 2007 – John Neely Kennedy, while State Treasurer of Louisiana, to run in 2008 as the Republican choice for U.S. Senate against Mary Landrieu
    Mary Landrieu
    Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...

  • 2007 – Robert Adley
    Robert Adley (Louisiana politician)
    Robert Roy Adley , is a businessman and politician from Benton, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate...

    , while a member of the Louisiana State Senate
    Louisiana State Senate
    The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...

     (re-elected for his current term as a Democrat)
  • 2008 – Nolan Mettetal, member of the Mississippi State Senate
    Mississippi State Senate
    The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate is composed of 52 Senators representing an equal amount of constituent districts, with 54,704 people per district...

  • 2008 – Gil Pinac
    Gil Pinac
    Gillis James Pinac, known as Gil Pinac is a former 12-year Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Crowley, the seat of Acadia Parish...

    , former member of both houses of the Louisiana legislature from Crowley
    Crowley, Louisiana
    Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 14,225 at the 2000 census. The city is noted for its annual International Rice Festival. Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for...

    , a week before his announcement that he will run as a Republican in a special election for the Louisiana Public Service Commission
    Louisiana Public Service Commission
    Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...

  • 2008 – Billy Nicholson, Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

     state Rep. switched parties in February, becoming a Republican
  • 2009 – Paul Vallas
    Paul Vallas
    Paul Gust Vallas is the superintendent of the Recovery School District of Louisiana, and former CEO of Chicago Public Schools and the School District of Philadelphia....

    , school superintendent of the Recovery School District
    Recovery School District
    The is a special statewide school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education. Created by legislation passed in 2003, the RSD is designed to take underperforming schools and transform them into successful places for children to learn...

     of New Orleans, Louisiana
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

  • 2009 – Tom Salmon
    Thomas M. Salmon
    - Early life :Salmon was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont. He graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School and attended Worcester Academy as a postgraduate year and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Boston College...

    , state auditor of Vermont
    Vermont
    Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

  • 2009 – Chuck Hopson
    Chuck Hopson
    Charles L. Hopson, II, known as Chuck Hopson , is a pharmacist and businessman in Jacksonville, Texas, who has been since 2001 a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 11, which includes Cherokee, Houston, Panola and Rusk counties in the northeastern portion of his...

    , member of the Texas House of Representatives
    Texas House of Representatives
    The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

  • 2009 – Parker Griffith
    Parker Griffith
    Parker Griffith, M.D. is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party, having switched from the Democratic Party on December 22, 2009, but lost the Republican primary and his term ended in January 2011.-Early life, education and...

    , congressman from Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

     switched to Republican in the middle of his first term in congress

2010s

  • 2010 – Steve Levy
    Steve Levy (politician)
    Steven A. Levy is the seventh County Executive of Suffolk County, New York, elected on November 4, 2003. Originally a fiscally conservative Democrat, Levy joned the Republican Party in an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for governor....

    , County Executive
    County executive
    A county executive is the head of the executive branch of government in a county. This position is common in the United States.The executive may be an elected or an appointed position...

     of Suffolk County
    Suffolk County, New York
    Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...

    , New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

    , in order to run for Governor of New York
    Governor of New York
    The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...

    .
  • 2010 – Sheriff John C. Andrews, Pepin County Wisconsin. Was a Democrat for many years, but is running for re-election in 2010 as a Republican.
  • 2010 – Scott Angelle
    Scott Angelle
    Scott Anthony Angelle is a former lieutenant governor of Louisiana. He was appointed to the position by Governor Bobby Jindal and confirmed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2010, when Mitch Landrieu resigned the lieutenant governorship to become mayor of New Orleans...

    , interim
    Interim
    Interim is an album by British rock band The Fall, compiled from live and studio material and released in 2004. It features the first officially released versions of "Clasp Hands", "Blindness" and "What About Us?" — all of which were later included on the band's next studio album Fall Heads Roll —...

     Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
    Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
    The Office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current Lieutenant Governor is Jay Dardenne, a Republican...

  • 2010 – Alabama Circuit Clerk from Madison County, Jane C. Smith, switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Alabama State House Reps. Alan Boothe, Steve Hurst, Mike Millican, and Lesley Vance switch to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Georgia Hall County Commissioner Ashley Bell
    Ashley Bell
    -Personal life:Ashley Bell was born in Santa Monica, California, daughter of Victoria Carroll, an actress, and Michael Bell, an actor.She attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree....

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Georgia State House Reps. Ellis Black, Amy Carter , Mike Cheokas, Bubber Epps, Gerald Greene, Bob Hanner, Doug McKillip, and Alan Powell
    Alan Powell
    Alan Powell is a drummer who was mainly active during the 1970s.In 1964 Alan joined Manchester R&B band Ivans Meads who released their first single for EMI label "Sins of a Family" followed in 1965 with "We'll Talk about it Tomorrow"...

     switch to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Georgia State Sen. Tim Golden
    Tim Golden
    Tim Golden is a Republican member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 8th District since 1998. He was previously the Democratic Minority Caucus Chairman...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Kansas State Sen. Chris Steineger
    Chris Steineger
    Chris Steineger is a former Democrat and current Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 6th District since 1997. He was once the Senate Minority Whip. He is married and lives in Kansas City, KS.-Biography:...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Louisiana State House Reps. Simone B. Champagne
    Simone B. Champagne
    Simone Becnel Champagne is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 49 in south Louisiana. She resides in Jeanerette in Iberia Parish, where in 1971 she graduated from Jeanerette High School...

    , Noble Ellington
    Noble Ellington
    Noble Edward Ellington, II , is a wealthy cotton merchant from Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who is a freshman, and as of December 17, 2010, a Republican, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 20...

    , Walker Hines
    Walker Hines (Louisiana politician)
    Walker Hines is a businessman from New Orleans, Louisiana, who is vacating his seat, after a single term, in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 95 in Orleans Parish, shifted to Livingston Parish in 2013....

    , and Fred Mills
    Fred Mills (Louisiana politician)
    Fred Henry Mills, Jr. , is a pharmacist and banker from St. Martinville, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, having won a special election on January 22, 2011, for the District 22 seat vacated in 2010 by the Independent Troy Hebert of Jeanerette.Mills had since 2008...

    , switch to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Louisiana State Sens. John Alario
    John Alario
    John A. Alario, Jr. , is an American businessman from Westwego in Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs, who is the dean of the Louisiana State Legislature, having served consecutively in the law-making body since 1972. He was the District 83 member of the Louisiana House of Representatives...

     of Jefferson Parish, and John Smith of Leesville
    Leesville, Louisiana
    Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,753 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to the Fort Polk U.S. Army installation...

    , switch to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Maine State House Rep. Mike Willette switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 - Mississippi State House Rep. Bobby Shows switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 - Mississippi State Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith
    Cindy Hyde-Smith
    Cindy Hyde-Smith is a Republican member of the Mississippi Senate, representing the 39th District since 2000. Senator Hyde-Smith has served as chair of the Senate Agriculture committee since 2004 and is a member of Appropriations, Constitution, Corrections, Elections, Forestry, Public Health and...

      switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 - Simpson County (Mississippi) Superintendent of Education Joe Welch switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Mississippi Public Service Commissioner for the Central District Lynn Posey switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – New Jersey Mayor of Clinton, Christine Schaumburg, switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – South Dakota State Sen. Eldon Nygaard
    Eldon Nygaard
    Eldon E. Nygaard is a Democratic member of the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 17th district since 2006.Nygaard was elected to the South Dakota Senate in the 2010 general election...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2010 – Texas State House Reps. Aaron Pena
    Aaron Peña
    Aaron Peña, Jr. , is a member of the Texas House of Representatives from a district in Hidalgo County in far South Texas. In November 2002, he was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat. He is serving his fifth term in office. Representative Peña is an attorney in private...

    , and Allan Ritter of Nederland
    Nederland, Texas
    Nederland is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,547 at the 2010 census.The city is adjacent to the Southeast Texas Regional Airport in Port Arthur, which serves the nearby cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur. It is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...

     switch to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell
    Buddy Caldwell
    James David Caldwell, Sr., or Buddy Caldwell , is the Republican attorney general of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Prior to serving as attorney general, Caldwell was the district attorney for Madison, East Carroll, and Tensas parishes from 1979 to 2008...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Mississippi State House Reps. Russ Nowell, and Margaret Rogers switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Mississippi State Sen. Ezell Lee
    Ezell Lee
    Ezell Lee is a Republican member of the Mississippi Senate, representing the 47th District since 1992. Previously he was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1987 through 1991...

      switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Louisiana State House Reps. Charles "Bubba" Chaney
    Charles "Bubba" Chaney
    Charles R. "Bubba" Chaney is a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 19, which includes his home city of Rayville in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana. He was elected in 2007, when he defeated Anita Mack-Tennant.The position opened when the long-term Democratic...

     and Billy Chandler
    Billy Chandler
    Billy Ray Chandler , is a retired businessman from Dry Prong in Grant Parish, who is a departing Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Prior to redistricting, Chandler's District 22 encompassed seventy-two precincts from Grant, La Salle, and parts of Winn and northern Rapides...

     switch to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Mike "Pete" Huval
    Mike "Pete" Huval
    Michael Paul Huval, known as Mike "Pete" Huval , is an insurance agent from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 47 in St. Martin Parish....

     switches parties to win election to the Louisiana House of Representatives from St. Martin Parish
    St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
    St. Martin Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is St. Martinville. As of the 2000 census, the population was 48,583.St...

    .
  • 2011 - Bob Hensgens
    Bob Hensgens
    Craig Robert Hensgens, known as Bob Hensgens , is the Republican state representative from House District 47 in Vermilion and Cameron parishes in far southwestern Louisiana.-Background:...

    , the Democratic mayor of Gueydan
    Gueydan, Louisiana
    Gueydan is a town in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,598 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Abbeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

    , Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

    , switches parties to be elected state representative from Vermilion
    Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
    Vermilion Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Abbeville. As of the 2010 census, the population was 57,999....

     and Cameron
    Cameron Parish, Louisiana
    Cameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron and as of 2010, the population was 6,839...

     parishes.
  • 2011 – Louisiana State Sens. Jody Amedee
    Jody Amedee
    Joseph P. Amedee, known as Jody Amedee , is an attorney from Gonzales, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 18, which encompasses portions of Ascension, Livingston, St. James, and St...

    , and Norby Chabert
    Norby Chabert
    Norbert Nolty Chabert, known as Norby Chabert , is a former political consultant from Houma, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 20 in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. Since 2009, he has held the same seat occupied from 1980 to 1992 by his father,...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Jefferson County (Alabama) Treasurer Jennifer Champion switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Lamar County District Attorney Gary Young
    Gary Young
    Gary Young was the first drummer of the 1990s alternative rock band Pavement.-Early life:Gary Young was born in Mamaroneck, New York. His father worked in the plastics business.-Work with Pavement:...

    ; Pct. 1 County Commissioner Lawrence Mallone; Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace (JP) Don Denison; Pct. 3 JP Tim Risinger; Pct. 4 JP Ken Ruthart; Pct. 5, Place 1 JP Cindy Ruthart; Pct. 1 Constable Madaline Chance; Pct. 3 Constable Larry Cope; and Pct. 5 Constable Gene Hobbs, all switch to the Republicans.
  • 2011 - Former Chairman of the Mobile County Democratic Party Brad Warren switches to Republican.
  • 2011 - Former Asheville North Carolina General Assembly
    North Carolina General Assembly
    The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...

     Rep. D. Bruce Goforth
    D. Bruce Goforth
    Daniel Bruce Goforth is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly who represented the state's one hundred fifteenth House district, including constituents in Buncombe County. A contractor from Asheville, North Carolina, Goforth served almost four complete terms in the state...

     joins the Republican Party after losing the Democratic nomination for a fifth term in 2010.
  • 2011 - Arkansas State Rep. Linda Collins-Smith switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Louisiana State Rep. Taylor Barras
    Taylor Barras
    Taylor Francis Barras is an accountant and banker from New Iberia, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 48, based in Iberia Parish....

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Louisiana State Rep. Joel Robideaux
    Joel Robideaux
    Joel Craig Robideaux is a Certified Public Accountant from Lafayette, Louisiana, who is an Independent-turned-Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 45 in Lafayette Parish...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - North Carolina State Rep. Bert Jones
    Bert Jones
    Bertram Hays "Bert" Jones is a former LSU and NFL quarterback who played for the then Baltimore Colts and, briefly, the Los Angeles Rams. At Ruston High School, he was given the nickname, "The Ruston Rifle"...

     switches to the Republican Party.
  • 2011 - Former Michigan State Rep. Jim Slezak
    Jim Slezak
    Jim Slezak is a Michigan politician who served in Michigan State's House of Representatives.-Poltical career:In 2008, Slezak won election to the Michigan State's House of Representatives 50th District defeating incumbent, Ted Hammon, in the Democratic primary...

     switches to the Republican Party in order to run for congress.
  • 2011 - Mississipi State Sen. Gray Tollison
    Gray Tollison
    Gray Tollison is a Republican member of the Mississippi Senate, representing the 9th District since 1996. He is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary, Division B Committee, which handles criminal law and traffic safety legislation...

     and Rep. Donnie Bell switch to the Republican Party.

Democratic to third party/independent or third party to Democratic

  • 1848 – The anti-slavery
    Slavery
    Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

     "Barnburner
    Barnburners and Hunkers
    The Barnburners were the more radical faction of the New York state Democratic Party in the mid 19th century. The term barnburner was derived from the idea of someone who would burn down his own barn to get rid of a rat infestation, in this case those who would destroy all banks and corporations,...

    " faction of the Democratic Party, along with members of the Liberty Party
    Liberty Party (1840s)
    The Liberty Party was a minor political party in the United States in the 1840s . The party was an early advocate of the abolitionist cause...

    , splintered into creating the Free Soil Party
    Free Soil Party
    The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership...

     in 1848 including former Democratic President Martin Van Buren
    Martin Van Buren
    Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....

     who was the party's presidential nominee the same year. Most returned to the Democratic Party after it dissolved.
  • 1878 – Hendrick Bradley Wright
    Hendrick Bradley Wright
    Hendrick Bradley Wright was a Democratic and Greenback member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Early life:...

    , congressman from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

    , ran for reelection on the Greenback Party
    United States Greenback Party
    The Greenback Party was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology that was active between 1874 and 1884. Its name referred to paper money, or "greenbacks," that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward...

     and sought the party's presidential nomination in 1880.
  • 1880s – Absolom M. West
    Absolom M. West
    Absolom Madden West was a Southern United States politician, soldier, railroad president and labor organizer.-Biography:...

    , joined the Greenback Party
    United States Greenback Party
    The Greenback Party was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology that was active between 1874 and 1884. Its name referred to paper money, or "greenbacks," that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward...

     before being selected as a running mate on that party's presidential campaign in 1884
    United States presidential election, 1884
    The United States presidential election of 1884 saw the first election of a Democrat as President of the United States since the election of 1856. New York Governor Grover Cleveland narrowly defeated Republican former United States Senator James G. Blaine of Maine to break the longest losing streak...

  • 1890 – Thomas E. Watson
    Thomas E. Watson
    Thomas Edward "Tom" Watson was an American politician, newspaper editor, and writer from Georgia. In the 1890s Watson championed poor farmers as a leader of the Populist Party, articulating an agrarian political viewpoint while attacking business, bankers, railroads, Democratic President Grover...

     switched to the Populist Party
    Populist Party (United States)
    The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

     to run for Congress. He was also the party's vice presidential candidate in 1896 and presidential candidate in 1904 and 1908. He switched back to the Democratic Party and the Populist Party dissolved.
  • 1946–48 – Henry A. Wallace
    Henry A. Wallace
    Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...

     left the Democratic Party after being fired as Secretary of Commerce by Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

    . He ran for President as the Progressive
    Progressive Party (United States, 1948)
    The United States Progressive Party of 1948 was a left-wing political party that ran former Vice President Henry A. Wallace of Iowa for president and U.S. Senator Glen H. Taylor of Idaho for vice president in 1948.-Foundation:...

     and American Labor Party
    American Labor Party
    The American Labor Party was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party who had established themselves as the Social Democratic...

     candidate in 1948. Later supported Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

     and Richard M. Nixon for President.
  • 1948 – The States' Rights Democratic Party
    Dixiecrat
    The States' Rights Democratic Party was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States in 1948...

     splintered from the Democratic Party. Most of its members returned to the Democratic Party after the 1948 election.
  • 1955 – Wayne Morse
    Wayne Morse
    Wayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds....

     US Senator from Oregon
    Oregon
    Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

     changed from an Independent to a Democrat on February 17, 1955
  • 1964 – The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
    Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
    The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was an American political party created in the state of Mississippi in 1964, during the civil rights movement...

     was founded.
  • 1970 – Harry F. Byrd, Jr.
    Harry F. Byrd, Jr.
    Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. is a retired 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....

    , While US senator from Virginia
    Virginia
    The 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" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

    , became an independent.
  • 1974 – D. French Slaughter, Jr.
    D. French Slaughter, Jr.
    Daniel French Slaughter, Jr. was an American politician.-Early life and education:Daniel Slaughter Jr. was born in Culpeper, Virginia and attended public schools in Culpeper County. He attended Virginia Military Institute and graduated in 1953 with a B.A. and LL.B...

    , while serving in the Virginia House of Delegates
    Virginia House of Delegates
    The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

    . Later elected to Congress as a Republican.
  • 1980 - Lyndon LaRouche
    Lyndon LaRouche
    Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. is an American political activist and founder of a network of political committees, parties, and publications known collectively as the LaRouche movement...

     campaigned for U.S. President on his own U.S. Labor Party
    U.S. Labor Party
    The U.S. Labor Party was a political party formed in 1973 by the National Caucus of Labor Committees . It served as a vehicle for Lyndon LaRouche to run for President of the United States in 1976, but it also sponsored many candidates for local offices and Congressional and Senate seats between...

     ticket in 1976, but sought the Democratic Party nomination in the next seven elections.
  • 1994 – Wes Watkins
    Wes Watkins
    Wesley Wade "Wes" Watkins is a politician from the state of Oklahoma. He is a retired member of the United States House of Representatives where Watkins had represented Oklahoma's 3rd Congressional District for 14 years as a Democrat and then for six years as a Republican.-Early life and...

    , while running for governor of Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

    . He lost, but was elected as a Republican two years later to the House seat he held as a Democrat from 1977 to 1991.
  • 1998 – Jerry Brown
    Jerry Brown
    Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...

    , former Governor of California
    Governor of California
    The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

     and 1976, 1980 and 1992 candidate for Democratic presidential nomination. Left Democratic Party and registered as Decline to State
    Decline To State
    Decline to State is an affiliation designation on the California voter registration form that allows voters to register to vote without choosing a party affiliation. It is similar to what in other states would be called declaring oneself as an independent...

     (unaffiliated voter in California). Then he was elected to nonpartisan post of Mayor of Oakland, California. He re-entered his old party shortly thereafter, became Attorney General of California, and is again Governor of California.
  • 2000 – Virgil Goode
    Virgil Goode
    Virgil Hamlin Goode, Jr. , is an American politician, last serving as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented the 5th congressional district of Virginia from 1997 to 2009...

    , congressman from Virginia
    Virginia
    The 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" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

     became an independent. He joined the Republican Party in 2002.
  • 2000 – Matt Gonzalez
    Matt Gonzalez
    Matthew Edward Gonzalez is an American politician, lawyer, and activist prominent in San Francisco politics. He currently serves as chief attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender's office....

    , to the Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

    , during his campaign for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
  • 2000 – Audie Bock
    Audie Bock
    Audie Elizabeth Bock is an American film scholar and politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1999 to 2000....

    , after being elected to the California State Assembly
    California State Assembly
    The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

     in 1999, as a Green
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

     ran as an Independent in 2000. After losing the November 2000 election Bock re-registered as a Democrat
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    .
  • 2002 – Tim Penny
    Tim Penny
    Timothy Joe "Tim" Penny , is an American politician from Minnesota. Penny was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the United States House of Representatives, 1983–1995, representing Minnesota's 1st congressional district in the 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 102nd and 103rd congresses.-Early life:Penny...

    , a member of congress from Minnesota (1983–1995) to Independence Party of Minnesota
    Independence Party of Minnesota
    The Independence Party of Minnesota , formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is the third largest political party in Minnesota, behind the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Party . It is the political party of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura , and endorsed former U.S...

     to run for governor
    Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2002
    The 2002 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002 for the post of Governor of Minnesota. Republican candidate Tim Pawlenty defeated Democratic candidate Roger Moe and Independence Party of Minnesota candidate Tim Penny...

  • 2003 – Matt Ahearn
    Matt Ahearn
    Matthew Ahearn is an American politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 38th legislative district from 2002 to 2004. Ahearn represented a district which covers an area between the Passaic and Hudson Rivers in suburban Bergen County...

    , to the Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

    , while a New Jersey
    New Jersey
    New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

     state legislator
  • 2004 – Peter Clavelle
    Peter Clavelle
    Peter A. Clavelle is a Vermont politician and former mayor of Burlington. He was first elected mayor in 1989, serving seven terms...

     switched to Democrat from Progressive
    Vermont Progressive Party
    The Vermont Progressive Party is an American political party. It was founded in 1999 and is active only in the U.S. state of Vermont. In terms of the dominant two parties in the United States, it enjoys support from "traditional liberal" Democrats and working class Republicans. The party is...

     in order to run for Governor of Vermont, State law required change in order to run in Democratic primary.
  • 2005 – Jim Lendall
    Jim Lendall
    Jim Lendall is an American politician, activist, and nurse. Lendall was the 2010 Green Party candidate for Arkansas governor.Lendall, a former State Representative, from Little Rock was elected to four terms in the state legislature as both a Democrat and an independent...

    , Four term Arkansas state legislator, to Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

    , ran on Green ballot Line for Governor in 2006.
  • 2006 – Joe Lieberman
    Joe Lieberman
    Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...

    , to run as an independent (on the Connecticut for Lieberman
    Connecticut for Lieberman
    Connecticut 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...

     ticket) for US Senate in Connecticut
    Connecticut
    Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

    , after losing to challenger Ned Lamont
    Ned Lamont
    Edward Miner "Ned" Lamont, Jr. is a businessman and heir and most recently an unsuccessful candidate for the 2010 Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut. On May 22, 2010, Lamont received more than fifteen percent of the vote at the state Democratic convention, and appeared on the...

     in the Democratic Primary. Lieberman won the election, and currently caucuses with the Democrats.
  • 2006 – David Segal, Providence, Rhode Island
    Providence, Rhode Island
    Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

    , City Council Minority Leader, switched from the Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

     to Democrat, prior to successful campaign for the Rhode Island General Assembly.
  • 2006 – Avel Gordly
    Avel Gordly
    Avel Louise Gordly is an activist, community organizer, and former politician who in 1996 became the first African-American woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate.-Early years:...

    , while in Oregon Senate
  • 2006 – William M. Paparian
    Bill Paparian
    Bill Paparian is an American politician, a former mayor of Pasadena, California, serving from 1995 to 1997. He was also a member of the Pasadena City Council from 1987 to 1999, and a Green Party candidate for Congress in 2006. He was the first Armenian-American mayor of Pasadena, as well as the...

    , former Mayor Pasadena, California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

     to Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

    , to run for Congress California 29th
  • 2006 – Barbara Becnel
    Barbara Becnel
    Barbara Cottman Becnel is an American author, journalist, and film producer. She was a close friend and advocate for Crips co-founder Stanley Williams , and editor of Williams's series of children's books, which spoke out against gang...

    ,to the Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

     following unsuccessful run for Democratic Party
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    's nomination for Governor of California
    Governor of California
    The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

  • 2006 – Ben Westlund
    Ben Westlund
    Ben Westlund was a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A Democrat, he was elected State Treasurer in 2008. Previously, Westlund served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as a Republican from 1996 to 2006, as an independent from 2006 to 2007, and then as a Democrat...

    , after his aborted candidacy for Governor of Oregon
    Oregon
    Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

    . In December 2006, Westlund, (a former Republican turned Independent), switched again this time to Democrat, prior to successful campaign for State Treasurer of Oregon.
  • 2007 – Eric Eidsness
    Eric Eidsness
    '— Incumbent Marilyn Musgrave , a Republican who was the chief sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment won a surprisingly close 45.6% to 43.1% reelection in 2006 despite the Republican-leaning nature of her eastern Colorado district...

    , switched from Republican to Reform Party
    Reform Party of the United States of America
    The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...

     to the Democratic Party
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    .
  • 2007 – Cynthia McKinney
    Cynthia McKinney
    Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...

    , former US Congresswoman. Switched from Democrat to Green in October, and was the Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

    's presidential nominee the following year. in the 2008 presidential election
    United States presidential election, 2008
    The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

    .
  • 2008 – Chris Lugo, 2006 Green Party US Senate candidate switched to Democratic Party
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

     to run for the Democratic nomination for that year's U.S. Senate race.
  • 2008 – Mike Gravel
    Mike Gravel
    Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and a former candidate in the 2008 presidential election....

    , former US Senator and 2008 presidential candidate switched from Democrat to Libertarian.
  • 2008 – Rick Singleton, a state legislator from Rhode Island
    Rhode Island
    The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

     who had already switched from Republican to Independent, switched to Democratic registration and announced that he would be heading "Democrats for McCain
    John McCain
    John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

    " in 2008
  • 2009 – Juan Arambula
    Juan Arambula
    Juan Arambula is a former California State Assemblyman. He represented the 31st district. Arambula was elected to the Assembly in 2004. Arambula had announced that he would retire in 2008; however, he decided to run for his last term. He was a Democrat until June 2009, when he became an independent...

    , California State Assembly
    California State Assembly
    The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

    man switched from Democrat to Independent.
  • 2009 – Timothy P. Cahill
    Timothy P. Cahill
    Timothy P. Cahill is a former Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General and was an independent candidate in the 2010 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election.-Early political career:...

    , Massachusetts State Treasurer, switched to Independent.
  • 2009 – Richard Carroll
    Richard Carroll (politician)
    Richard Carroll is an American politician. He ran for District 39 of the Arkansas House of Representatives on the U.S...

    , Arkansas House of Representatives
    Arkansas House of Representatives
    The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the state. Each district has an average population of 26,734...

    . The only Green Party
    Green Party (United States)
    The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...

     state legislator in the U.S., switched to the Democratic Party
    Democratic Party (United States)
    The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

    .
  • 2010 – Bob Ziegelbauer
    Bob Ziegelbauer
    Robert F. "Bob" Ziegelbauer is an independent member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 25th Assembly District since his election in 1992. Born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Ziegelbauer graduated from Roncalli High School...

    , Wisconsin State Assembly
    Wisconsin State Assembly
    The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....

     announced that he run for re-election in November 2010 as an Independent.
  • 2011 - Andrew Nunez, New Mexico House of Representatives
    New Mexico House of Representatives
    The New Mexico House of Representatives is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature.There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico.The Speaker of the House is Ben Luján .-Composition:...


Republican to Democratic

  • 1860s – Henry George
    Henry George
    Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...

  • late 1860s – Andrew Gregg Curtin
    Andrew Gregg Curtin
    Andrew Gregg Curtin was a U.S. lawyer and politician. He served as the Governor of Pennsylvania during the Civil War.-Biography:...

    , after leaving office as Governor of Pennsylvania, elected to Congress as a Democrat.
  • late 1860s – Alonzo Garcelon
    Alonzo Garcelon
    Dr. Alonzo Garcelon was the 36th Governor of Maine, an American Civil War surgeon general, and a co-founder of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.-Birth and early years:...

  • 1872 – Edmund G. Ross
    Edmund G. Ross
    Edmund Gibson Ross was a politician who represented the state of Kansas after the American Civil War and was later governor of the New Mexico Territory. His vote against convicting of President Andrew Johnson of "high crimes and misdemeanors" allowed Johnson to stay in office by the margin of one...

    , after leaving office as U.S. Senator from Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

  • early 1930s – Arthur W. Mitchell
    Arthur W. Mitchell
    Arthur Wergs Mitchell was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Mitchell was the first African American to be elected to the United States Congress as a Democrat....

  • 1933 – Henry A. Wallace
    Henry A. Wallace
    Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...

     switched to Democratic Party, but left after being fired as Secretary of Commerce by Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

    . He ran for President as the Progressive
    Progressive Party (United States, 1948)
    The United States Progressive Party of 1948 was a left-wing political party that ran former Vice President Henry A. Wallace of Iowa for president and U.S. Senator Glen H. Taylor of Idaho for vice president in 1948.-Foundation:...

     and American Labor Party
    American Labor Party
    The American Labor Party was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party who had established themselves as the Social Democratic...

     candidate in 1948. Later supported Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

     and Richard M. Nixon for President.
  • 1952 – Wayne Morse
    Wayne Morse
    Wayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds....

     while in US senate from Oregon.
  • mid 1960s – Pete Stark
    Pete Stark
    Fortney Hillman "Pete" Stark, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1973. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Currently he is the 5th most senior Representative, as well as 6th most senior member of Congress overall...

    , now U.S. Representative from California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 1960s – Howard Dean
    Howard Dean
    Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...

    , while in college
  • 1960s – Archibald Carey, Jr
    Archibald Carey, Jr
    Archibald J. Carey, Jr was an American lawyer, judge, politician, diplomat and clergyman from the south side of Chicago. He was an alderman for many years under the patronage of powerful African-American politician William L. Dawson. For many years Judge Carey was a major figure in Chicago's...

    , after serving as a Chicago alderman and before being elected as a circuit court judge in Cook County, Illinois
  • 1962 – Calhoun Allen
    Calhoun Allen
    Littleberry Calhoun Allen, Jr. , was from 1970 to 1978 a two-term Democratic mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, the state's third largest city. From 1962-1970, he was the municipal public utilities commissioner. He also served some two months as a "District B" city council member after his election in...

    , to run for the Shreveport, Louisiana
    Shreveport, Louisiana
    Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

    , City Council
  • 1970s – Ralph Neas
    Ralph Neas
    Ralph G. Neas is CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care , a non-profit, non-partisan organization working to improve America's health care system....

  • 1971 – John Lindsay
    John Lindsay
    John Vliet Lindsay was an American politician, lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...

    , while mayor of New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

  • 1971 – Leon Panetta
    Leon Panetta
    Leon Edward Panetta is the 23rd and current United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama since 2011. Prior to taking office, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency...

    , switched parties while not in or running for public office. He later became a U.S. representative from California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

     (1976–93) and White House Chief of Staff
    White House Chief of Staff
    The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...

     (1994–1997).
  • 1972 – Ogden R. Reid
    Ogden R. Reid
    Ogden Rogers Reid is a former United States Representative from New York.Reid was born in New York, New York and he graduated from Deerfield Academy and Yale University. He was widely known by his nickname, "Brownie." His family owned the New York Herald Tribune and, before that the New York...

    , while U.S. representative from New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

  • 1973 – Joan Finney
    Joan Finney
    Joan Finney , served as the 42nd Governor of Kansas from 1991 to 1995.She was born Joan Marie McInroy in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Leonard and Mary Sands McInroy. She graduated from high school in Manhattan, Kansas in 1942. In 1957, she married Spencer Finney, Jr...

    , before being elected Kansas State Treasurer, and later Governor of Kansas
  • 1973 – Don Riegle, while U.S. representative from Michigan
    Michigan
    Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

  • 1977 – Peter Peyser, after three terms in the House as a New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     Republican, vacated his seat to run for nomination for the Senate in 1976. After his unsuccessful attempt, he switched to the Democratic party and regained his House seat in 1978.
  • 1985 – John Yarmuth
    John Yarmuth
    John Yarmuth is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party.- Early life, education and career :...

    , now U.S. Representative from Kentucky
    Kentucky
    The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

  • 1991 – Mike Doyle
    Michael F. Doyle
    Michael F. "Mike" Doyle is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in Pittsburgh and includes most of Allegheny County....

    , now U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

  • 1991 – Markos Moulitsas
    Markos Moulitsas Zúniga
    Markos Moulitsas Zúniga , often known by his username and former military nickname "Kos" , is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic Party politics in the United States. He is also a weekly columnist at the Washington, D.C...

    , while in the Army
  • 1992 – Loretta Sanchez
    Loretta Sanchez
    Loretta Sanchez is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 46th, serving since 2003. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. The district lies in central Orange County....

    , now U.S. Representative from California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 1994 – Bernard Erickson, Texas State Representative
  • 1996 – Carolyn McCarthy
    Carolyn McCarthy
    Carolyn McCarthy is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in central Long Island in west-central Nassau County and includes Mineola, the Five Towns, East Rockaway, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Garden City, Hempstead,...

    , now U.S. Representative from New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

    , to challenge incumbent Dan Frisa (McCarthy was still a registered Republican at the time, but changed her registration to Democratic in 2002)
  • 1997 – Betsy McCaughey Ross
    Betsy McCaughey Ross
    Betsy McCaughey , formerly known as Betsy McCaughey Ross, was the Republican Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1995 to 1998, during the first term of Governor George Pataki. She unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for Governor after Pataki dropped her from his 1998 ticket.An...

    , during her term as Lieutenant Governor of New York
    Lieutenant Governor of New York
    The Lieutenant Governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of New York State. It is the second highest ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four year term...

    , after falling out of favour with Governor
    Governor of New York
    The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...

     George Pataki
    George Pataki
    George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...

  • 1997 – Debra J. Mazzarelli, New York State Assemblywoman
  • 1998 – Russell W. Peterson
    Russell W. Peterson
    Russell Wilbur "Russ" Peterson was an American scientist and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He served as Governor of Delaware as a member of the Republican Party...

    , Governor of Delaware 1969–1973
  • 1999 – Michael Forbes
    Michael Forbes
    Michael Patrick Forbes is a politician from the state of New York.- Early life and career:Michael Patrick Forbes was born on 16 July 1952 in Riverhead, New York. Forbes graduated from the SUNY Albany. Forbes worked as an assistant for Republicans U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack...

    , while U.S. representative from New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

    (lost the primary election in 2000)
  • 1999 – Robert R. Neall, Maryland State Senator
  • first decade of the 21st century – Scott Heidepriem
    Scott Heidepriem
    Scott Heidepriem is a Democratic member of the South Dakota Senate, representing the 13th district since 2007. He was the 2010 Democratic nominee for Governor of South Dakota.-Personal life:...

    , before reentering the South Dakota Senate
    South Dakota Senate
    The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota State Legislature. It is made up of 35 members, one representing each legislative district, and meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre.-Composition:-Officers:-Members of the 86th Senate:...

  • 2000 – Dean Johnson
    Dean Johnson
    Dean Elton Johnson is a former Minnesota politician and a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota...

    , former GOP State Senate Minority Leader and future DFL
    Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
    The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...

     State Senate Majority Leader, while State Senator from Minnesota
    Minnesota
    Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

  • 2000 - Mark DeSaulnier
    Mark DeSaulnier
    Mark James DeSaulnier is an American politician and a Democratic member of the California Legislature representing California's 7th State Senate district since December 2008. From 2006 to 2008, DeSaulnier represented California's 11th State Assembly district...

    , at the time Contra Costa County Supervisor, Future California State Assemblyman and State Senator.
  • 2000 – Judi Dutcher
    Judi Dutcher
    Judith H. Dutcher is an attorney and former politician who served as the Minnesota State Auditor from 1995 – 2003 as both a Republican and Democrat . She was the first woman to serve as Minnesota State Auditor....

    , while State Auditor from Minnesota
    Minnesota
    Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

  • 2000 – Margaret Gamble, South Carolina State Representative
  • 2000 – Mickey Whatley, South Carolina State Representative
  • 2000 – Randy Sauder, Georgia State Representative
  • 2001 – John A. Lawless
    John A. Lawless
    John A. Lawless is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.-Education and early career:He is a 1975 graduate of Methacton High School. He earned a degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and has attended classes at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science...

    , Pennsylvania House of Representatives
    Pennsylvania House of Representatives
    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

    .
  • 2001 – Kathy Ashe, Georgia State Representative
  • 2002 – D. G. Anderson
    D. G. Anderson
    Dominis Garrida Anderson , also popularly known as D.G. Anderson and Andy Anderson, is an American politician and businessman from Honolulu, Hawai'i....

    , before filing for the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Hawaii
    Hawaii
    Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

  • 2002 – Charles R. Larson
    Charles R. Larson
    Charles R. Larson is a retired four-star Admiral of the United States Navy.-Military career:A 1958 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Larson twice served as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He also served as Commander in Chief, United States Pacific...

    , before running for Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
    Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
    The Lieutenant Governor of Maryland is the second highest ranking official in the executive branch of the state government of Maryland in the United States. He or she is elected on the same ticket as the Governor of Maryland and must meet the same qualifications.The current Lieutenant Governor is...

  • 2002 – Ray Nagin
    Ray Nagin
    Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is a former mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Nagin gained international note in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the New Orleans area....

    , days before filing for the mayoral race in New Orleans
  • 2002 – Douglas Stalnaker, member of West Virginia House of Delegates
  • 2003 – Michael Decker, North Carolina State Representative
  • 2003 – Teresa Heinz Kerry
    Teresa Heinz Kerry
    Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira Heinz , known as Teresa Heinz, is an American businesswoman and philanthropist, the widow of former U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III , and the wife of U.S...

    , in protest of the campaign tactics used by Saxby Chambliss
    Saxby Chambliss
    Clarence Saxby Chambliss, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a U.S. Representative ....

     in the Georgia U.S. Senate race of 2002
  • 2003 – Barbara Hafer
    Barbara Hafer
    Barbara Hafer is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.-Early political career:...

    , while State Treasurer of Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

  • 2003 – Corey Corbin, New Hampshire State Representative
  • 2003 – Stan Moody, Maine State Representative
  • 2004 – Arthur Mayo, Maine State Senator
  • 2004 – Scott Dix, Georgia State Representative
  • 2005 – Andy Warren, former Bucks County, Pennsylvania Commissioner and well-known local politician; lost Congressional bid in 2006 to Patrick Murphy
    Patrick Murphy (politician)
    Patrick Joseph Murphy is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

  • 2005 – Paul J. Morrison
    Paul J. Morrison
    Paul J. Morrison is a lawyer and a former Attorney General of Kansas. Morrison attended Washburn University and Washburn School of Law, graduating in 1980. While at Washburn, he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta....

    , (Kansas) Johnson County District Attorney, to run successfully for attorney general
    Attorney General
    In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

     in 2006
  • 2005 – Robert McCabe, Sheriff of Norfolk, Virginia
  • 2005 – Steve Lukert, Kansas State Representative
  • 2006 – James Webb, US Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, prior to running for U.S. Senate in Virginia
  • 2006 – Mark Parkinson, former Kansas Republican Party Chairman, prior to running for Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
    Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
    The Lieutenant Governor of Kansas is the lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Kansas. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four-year term...

  • 2006 – Charles Barkley
    Charles Barkley
    Charles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...

    , former NBA basketball player, in anticipation of running for Governor of Alabama in 2014
  • 2006 – Nancy Riley
    Nancy Riley
    Nancy C. Riley represented Oklahoma State Senate District 37 which is located in Tulsa County and includes Bixby, Jenks, Lotsee, Tulsa and Sand Springs from 2000 to 2008. Riley grew up in Tulsa and graduated from Edison High School. She attended Oklahoma Christian College for three years, then...

    , GOP whip for the Oklahoma State Senate, as reported by the Daily Oklahoman.
  • 2006 – Kate Witek
    Kate Witek
    Kate Witek is the former Democratic Auditor of Public Accounts of Nebraska. She was first elected in November 1998. She was reelected in 2002, however she was defeated in her attempt for a third term in 2006.-Political career and party switch:...

    , while serving as Auditor of Nebraska
    Nebraska
    Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

  • 2006 – Montana
    Montana
    Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

     State Senator
    Montana Senate
    The Montana Senate is the upper house of the Montana State Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators.-Composition of the Senate:-Officers:*Majority Whip: Greg Barkus...

     Sam Kitzenberg switched from Republican to Democrat with the reported motivation being to break a 25 to 25 tie (the new ratio will be 26 Democrats to 24 Republicans).
  • 2006 – Rodney Tom
    Rodney Tom
    Rodney Tom is an American politician, currently representing Washington's 48th Legislative District in the state Senate and a member of the Democratic Party.- Personal life :...

    , switched parties while serving in the Washington State House of Representatives after the 2006 legislative session ended, announced he would run as a Democrat for State Senate in his district, in November 2006 defeated Republican incumbent state Senator Luke Esser.
  • 2006 – Diana Urban, Connecticut State Representative.
  • 2006 – Cindy Neighbor, Kansas State Representative; served as moderate Republican from 2002 to 2004 before losing renomination in 2004 to a more conservative Republican; sought rematch and won as a Democrat in 2006
  • 2006 – Judy Leyerzapf, Abilene, Kansas
    Abilene, Kansas
    Abilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,844.-History:...

     City Council member
  • 2006 – Barney Giese, County Prosecutor of Richland County, South Carolina
  • 2007 – Pete McCloskey
    Pete McCloskey
    Paul Norton "Pete" McCloskey Jr. is a former Republican politician from the U.S. state of California who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983. He ran on an anti-war platform for the Republican nomination for President in 1972 but was defeated by incumbent President...

    , former congressman from California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

  • 2007 – Walter Boasso
    Walter Boasso
    Walter Joseph Boasso is a wealthy businessman and former Democratic state senator from Chalmette, the seat of St. Bernard Parish in south Louisiana. He was defeated in a bid for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Boasso won 47 percent in his own St. Bernard Parish, his sole...

    , Louisiana state senator from Arabi to run for governor against Republican front-runner U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal
    Bobby Jindal
    Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....

    .
  • 2007 – Paul D. Froehlich
    Paul D. Froehlich
    Paul D. Froehlich was a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives elected to represent the 56th district, where he served from 2003 to 2011...

    , Illinois State Representative. According to the Chicago Tribune, Froehlich is cited as saying that the Republican Party "future prospects are not that good".
  • 2007 – Mike Spano
    Mike Spano
    Mike Spano is a current Democratic member of the New York State Assembly and Current Mayor-Elect of Yonkers, New York. He was first elected in 1992 as its youngest member. Due to the state’s redistricting plan, his seat was eliminated later that same year...

    , New York State Assemblyman. His brother, Nicholas Spano
    Nicholas Spano
    Nicholas A. Spano is best known as a New York Republican politician, who represented Yonkers and surrounding areas in the New York State Senate from 1986 to 2006...

    , was defeated for re-election by Andrea Stewart-Cousins
    Andrea Stewart-Cousins
    Andrea Stewart-Cousins is a New York State Senator for the 35th district representing Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Greenburgh, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Mount Pleasant, Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, and Yonkers....

     on November 7, 2006.
  • 2007 – Janet DiFiore, Westchester County NY District Attorney
  • 2007 – Chris Koster, In the middle of term in Missouri State Senate.
  • 2007 – Milward Dedman, Kentucky State Representative
  • 2007 – Melvin B. Henley, Kentucky State Representative
  • 2007 – Kirk England, Texas State Representative
  • 2007 – James Hovland, while Mayor of Edina, Minnesota
    Edina, Minnesota
    Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...

  • 2007 – Francis Bodine, New Jersey State Representative
  • 2007 – Debbie Stafford
    Debbie Stafford
    Debbie Stafford is a Colorado legislator. First appointed to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican in 2000, Stafford was elected four times to represent House District 40, which encompasses Elbert County and rural Arapahoe County east of Aurora, Colorado...

    , Colorado State Representative
  • 2007 – Entire Town Council in Lyndhurst, New Jersey
    Lyndhurst, New Jersey
    Lyndhurst is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 20,554.Lyndhurst was originally formed as Union Township on February 19, 1852 from portions of Harrison Township...

  • 2007 – Fred Jarrett
    Fred Jarrett
    Fred Jarrett is the Deputy King County Executive and a former Democratic member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 41st district since January 2009. He was first elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 2001 as a Republican, serving four terms. He switched parties in...

    , Washington State Representative
  • 2007 – Karen Awana, Hawaii State Representative
  • 2007 – Mike Gabbard
    Mike Gabbard
    Gerald Michael 'Mike' Gabbard is a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate, representing the 19th District since 2006. He has social conservative political views and rose to prominence for his successful effort to pass an amendment to the Constitution of Hawaii in 1998 to give the state legislature...

    , Hawaii State Senator
  • 2008 - Scott Haggerty, Alameda County Supervisor
  • 2008 – Rich White, Eau Claire County, WI, District Attorney
  • 2008 – Lou Thieblemont, Mayor of Camp Hill, Penn. switched his party registration to Democrat to vote for Obama in the Pennsylvania primary
  • 2008 – Dorsey Miller, Florida, serves on Gov. Charlie Crist's African American Council, major Florida Republican fund raiser.
  • 2009 – Dale Swenson, Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

     State Representative from Wichita
    Wichita, Kansas
    Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

     switched January 12, 2009 moments after being sworn into office as Republican for eighth term In 2010, Swenson's Democratic opponent in 2008, Leslie (Les) Osterman, switched to Republican and defeated Swenson[ Wichita Eagle, October 16, 2010; Sedgwick County Election Commissioner, November 8, 2010]
  • 2009 – Arlen Specter
    Arlen Specter
    Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...

    , United States Senator from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

    , switched April 27, 2009, after five terms in the GOP.
  • 2010 – Lora Rae Anderson, Former Chair of the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans, switched May 21, 2010, two weeks after her term as Chair ended with the Republicans.
  • 2011 - Alabama State Rep. Daniel Boman
    Daniel Boman
    Daniel Boman is a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing the 16th District. He attracted national attention in May 2011 when he switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in protest of Republican support for an education bill. Opponents of the bill argued that...

     (Sulligent) switches to Democratic Party
  • 2011 - Kentucky State Rep. Wade Hurt
    Wade Hurt
    G. Wade Hurt, USA soil scientist, is an authority on hydric soils. As of 2007, he has a position with the Soil and Water Science Department of the University of Florida in Gainesville. He retired from the Natural Resources Conservation Service in 2007, where he served as NRCS National Leader for...

     (Louisville) switches to Democratic Party

Republican to third party/independent or third party to Republican

  • 1872 – Republicans in frustration with the Grant administration formed the Liberal Republican Party
    Liberal Republican Party (United States)
    The Liberal Republican Party of the United States was a political party that was organized in Cincinnati in May 1872, to oppose the reelection of President Ulysses S. Grant and his Radical Republican supporters. The party's candidate in that year's presidential election was Horace Greeley, longtime...

     and joined the Democratic Party. Most returned to the Republican Party after the 1872 election.
  • mid 1870s – James Weaver, left the Republican Party over disenchantment with Ulysses S. Grant
    Ulysses S. Grant
    Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

    , elected to Congress on the Greenback Party
    United States Greenback Party
    The Greenback Party was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology that was active between 1874 and 1884. Its name referred to paper money, or "greenbacks," that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward...

     ticket and was the party's presidential nominee in 1880. Later switched to the Populist Party
    Populist Party (United States)
    The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

     and ran for President on that party's ticket in 1892.
  • 1890s – Republicans who had agreed with the Free Silver
    Free Silver
    Free Silver was an important United States political policy issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary Gold Standard; its supporters were called...

     movement of the 1890s formed the Silver Republican Party
    Silver Republican Party
    The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....

    . After the party faded, members either switched to the Democratic Party or returned to the Republican Party.
  • 1893 – William M. Stewart
    William M. Stewart
    William Morris Stewart was an American lawyer and politician.-Biography:Stewart was born in Wayne County, New York. As a child he moved with his parents to Trumbull County, Ohio. As a young man he was a mathematics teacher in Ohio. In 1849 he began attending Yale University but left in 1850 to...

    , While US Senator from Nevada switched to the Silver Party
    Silver Party
    The Silver Party was a political party in the United States, most successful in Nevada, active from 1892-1911. The party supported a platform of bimetallism and "Free Silver."...

     returned to Republican party in 1901.
  • 1895 – John P. Jones
    John P. Jones
    John Percival Jones was an American politician who served for 30 years as a Republican United States Senator from Nevada. He made a fortune in silver mining and was a co-founder of the town of Santa Monica, California....

    , While US Senator from Nevada switched to Silver Party
    Silver Party
    The Silver Party was a political party in the United States, most successful in Nevada, active from 1892-1911. The party supported a platform of bimetallism and "Free Silver."...

     returned in 1901.
  • 1896 – Wharton Barker switched to the Populist Party.
  • 1896 – Lee Mantle
    Lee Mantle
    Lee Mantle was a United States Senator from Montana.Born in Birmingham, England, his mother converted to Mormonism and immigrated to the United States with her children; they settled at Salt Lake City, Utah in 1864...

    , While US Senator from Montana switched to Silver Republican Party
    Silver Republican Party
    The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....

    .
  • 1896 – Richard F. Pettigrew
    Richard F. Pettigrew
    Richard Franklin Pettigrew was an American lawyer, surveyor, and land developer. He represented the Dakota Territory in the U.S. Congress and, after the Dakotas were admitted as States, he was the first U.S. Senator from South Dakota.-Biography:Pettigrew was born in Ludlow, Windsor County,...

    , While US Senator from South Dakota switched to Silver Republican Party
    Silver Republican Party
    The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....

    .
  • 1896 – Frank J. Cannon, While US Senator from Utah switched to Silver Republican Party
    Silver Republican Party
    The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....

    .
  • 1897 – Henry M. Teller, While US Senator from Colorado switched to Silver Republican Party
    Silver Republican Party
    The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....

     later switched to Democrat (1901).
  • 1897 – Fred T. Dubois, While US Senator from Idaho switched to Silver Republican Party
    Silver Republican Party
    The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....

    .
  • 1912 – Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

    , former President of the United States, left the Republican Party after a failed attempt to be nominated for President again. He ran as the candidate of the newly formed Progressive Party, better known as the Bull Moose Party, and received second place, doing better than the Republican candidate but being defeated by the Democratic candidate.
  • 1913 – Miles Poindexter
    Miles Poindexter
    Miles Poindexter was an American politician. As a Republican and later a Progressive, he served as a United States Representative and United States Senator.-Early life:Poindexter was born in Memphis, Tennessee...

    , While US Senator from Washington switched to the Progressive Party
    Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
    The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....

     returned to in 1915.
  • 1924 – Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
    Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
    Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...

    , While US Senator from Wisconsin ran as Progressive Party
    Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
    The Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name resembles the 1912 Progressive Party, which...

     presidential candidate in 1924, After the election, in November 1924, the Senate Republican Conference demoted La Follette from the chairmanship of the Committee on Manufactures to the next to last place on that committee.
  • 1926 – Herman Roethel
    Herman Roethel
    Herman Roethel was a Wisconsin farmer from Kiel, Wisconsin, USA, who served two terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, first being elected as a Socialist, and later as a Republican.- Background :...

    , former Socialist
    Socialist Party of America
    The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...

     member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
    Wisconsin State Assembly
    The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....

    , was nominated and elected as a Republican from the same district.
  • 1934 – Robert M. La Follette, Jr.
    Robert M. La Follette, Jr.
    Robert Marion "Young Bob" La Follette, Jr. was an American senator from Wisconsin from 1925 to 1947, the son of Robert M. La Follette, Sr., the brother of Philip La Follette, and Fola La Follette, whose husband was the playwright George Middleton.- Early life:La Follette was born in Madison,...

    , while U.S. Senator from Wisconsin
    Wisconsin
    Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

    , switched from the Republican Party to the Progressive Party.
  • 1936 – George William Norris
    George William Norris
    George William Norris was a U.S. politician from the state of Nebraska and a leader of progressive and liberal causes in Congress...

    , U.S. senator from Nebraska
    Nebraska
    Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

     became an independent and was reelected to the Senate once more, but was defeated in 1942 by a Republican in a race which also involved a Democrat.
  • 1937 or 1938 – Vito Marcantonio
    Vito Marcantonio
    Vito Anthony Marcantonio was an American lawyer and democratic socialist politician. Originally a member of the Republican Party and a supporter of Fiorello LaGuardia, he switched to the American Labor Party.-Early life:...

    , a liberal Republican congressman from New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     left the party after being defeated for reelection, and joined the American Labor Party
    American Labor Party
    The American Labor Party was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party who had established themselves as the Social Democratic...

    . He was then reelected to Congress.
  • 1946 – U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr. and his fellow members of the Wisconsin Progressive Party dissolved the party; La Follette and many others became Republicans once more, while a few joined the Democrats.
  • 1952 – Wayne Morse
    Wayne Morse
    Wayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds....

    , while U.S. senator from Oregon
    Oregon
    Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

    . He then switched from independent to Democrat in 1955.
  • 1972 – Roger MacBride
    Roger MacBride
    Roger Lea MacBride was an American lawyer, political figure, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election....

    , went from Republican to Libertarian and back to Republican
  • 1980 – John Anderson, Republican congressman from Illinois
    Illinois
    Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

    , left the Republican presidential primary race for an independent centrist
    Centrism
    In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...

     campaign in the 1980 presidential election
    United States presidential election, 1980
    The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...

    .
  • 1988 – Ron Paul
    Ron Paul
    Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

    , a former Republican congressman, ran for President as a Libertarian. He later returned to Congress as a Republican.
  • 1990s? – Arianna Huffington
    Arianna Huffington
    Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...

    , wife of one-term U.S. Rep. Michael Huffington
    Michael Huffington
    Michael Huffington is an American politician, bisexual activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a member of the United States House of Representatives for one term, 1993–1995, from California...

     (R-California). She is now a frequent commentator with a large base of progressive
    Progressivism
    Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...

     and liberal
    Liberalism
    Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

     fans. She even mounted an Independent bid for Governor of California in the 2003 recall election.
  • 1990 – Walter Hickel, former Nixon Interior Secretary left Republican Party before his successful bid for Governor of Alaska, as nominee of the Alaskan Independence Party
    Alaskan Independence Party
    The Alaskan Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of Alaska that advocates an in-state referendum which includes the option of Alaska becoming an independent country...

    . He rejoined the Republican party in 1994.
  • 1990 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
    Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.
    Lowell Palmer Weicker, Jr. is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut, and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1980...

    , before founding and running as the first candidate of A Connecticut Party
    A Connecticut Party
    A Connecticut Party was a political party formed by former Republican Senator and gubernatorial candidate Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. in 1990. Weicker subsequently won the election and served a single term as Governor of Connecticut...

     with successful campaign for governor of Connecticut
    Connecticut
    Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

     http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/07/nyregion/a-connecticut-party-endorses-lieberman.html
  • 1990 – Eunice Groark
    Eunice Groark
    Eunice S. Groark was elected the first female lieutenant governor of Connecticut in 1990. Groark ran on a ticket with Lowell Weicker, both of whom were members of A Connecticut Party...

    , switched to A Connecticut Party
    A Connecticut Party
    A Connecticut Party was a political party formed by former Republican Senator and gubernatorial candidate Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. in 1990. Weicker subsequently won the election and served a single term as Governor of Connecticut...

     to run for Connecticut
    Connecticut
    Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

     Lieutenant Governor on successful Weicker for governor ticket.
  • 1991 – Calvin "Cal" Warburton, (July 16) sitting state representative in New Hampshire (7th term) to Libertarian Party was elected in 1992 as a Libertarian.
  • 1999 – Pat Buchanan
    Pat Buchanan
    Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...

    , a conservative commentator who attempted to secure the 1996 Republican presidential nomination, left the Republican Party and gathered his supporters to take over the Reform Party, which made him their 2000 presidential nominee.
  • 1999 – Donald Trump
    Donald Trump
    Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...

    , real-estate billionaire left Republican Party and registered as a member of the Independence Party of New York
    Independence Party of New York
    The Independence Party is an affiliate in the U.S. state of New York of the Independence Party of America. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994...

     the Reform Party's New York affiliate, in exploratory bid for the parties presidential nomination.
  • 1999 – Robert C. Smith
    Robert C. Smith
    Robert C. "Bob" Smith is an American politician who has served in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life:Smith was born in Trenton, New Jersey...

     US Senator from New Hampshire
    New Hampshire
    New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

    , left the Republican Party on July 13, 1999 while running for the parties Presidential nomination, becoming an independent and declared himself a candidate for the U.S. Taxpayer's Party
    Constitution Party (United States)
    The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...

     presidential nomination and an independent candidate. on November 1, 1999, He returned when a Senate committee chairmanship became open.
  • 2000 – Rick Jore
    Rick Jore
    Rick Jore, a Montana politician and businessman, was a member of the 2006 Montana House of Representatives and chairman of the education committee. Jore was born and raised in Ronan, Montana and received his associates degree from North Idaho College in 1978...

    , three terms Republican Montana State Representative, to U.S. Constitution Party
    Constitution Party (United States)
    The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...

    , became party's highest elected official when elected to the Montana House in 2006 and appointed chairman of the House Education Committee
  • 2001 – James M. Jeffords
    Jim Jeffords
    James Merrill "Jim" Jeffords is a former U.S. Senator from Vermont. He served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become an independent. He retired from the Senate in 2006.-Background:...

    , while U.S. senator from Vermont
    Vermont
    Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

    . This move changed the balance of power in the Senate from 50-50, with Republican Vice President
    Vice President of the United States
    The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

     Richard B. Cheney
    Dick Cheney
    Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

     casting the tie-breaking vote and thus providing a "51" majority, to 50-49-1, giving the Democrats majority control of the Senate until the GOP regained control in 2003, following the 2002 midterm elections. Jeffords was given the nickname "Jumpin' Jim Jeffords". He was given a committee chairmanship by the Democratic leadership, and caucused with the Democrats until he chose not to run for re-election and left the Senate.
  • 2002 – Former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson
    Arne Carlson
    Arne Helge Carlson, Sr. is an American politician and the 37th Governor of the state of Minnesota.-Early years, education and family:...

     announces he no longer considers himself a Republican due to the Republican Party of Minnesota's
    Republican Party of Minnesota
    The Republican Party of Minnesota is the Minnesota branch of the United States Republican Party. Elected by the party’s state central committee in June 2009, its chairman is Tony Sutton, and its deputy-chairman is Michael Brodkorb.-Early history:...

     shift to the right on social issues. Carlson has not held elected office since 1999.
  • 2006 – Carole Keeton Strayhorn
    Carole Keeton Strayhorn
    Carole Keeton Strayhorn is the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts....

    , while Comptroller of Texas. Disenchanted with Gov. Rick Perry
    Rick Perry
    James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

    's leadership of the state. Strayhorn decided to run against him in the 2006 state elections as an independent.
  • 2006 – Ben Westlund
    Ben Westlund
    Ben Westlund was a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A Democrat, he was elected State Treasurer in 2008. Previously, Westlund served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as a Republican from 1996 to 2006, as an independent from 2006 to 2007, and then as a Democrat...

    , before his aborted candidacy for Governor of Oregon
    Oregon
    Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

    . In December 2006, Westlund took the switch a step further by becoming a Democrat.
  • 2006 – Bob Barr
    Bob Barr
    Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr, Jr. is a former federal prosecutorand a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of...

    , former congressman from Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

    , joined the Libertarian Party.
  • 2007 – Micheal R. Williams
    Micheal R. Williams
    Micheal R. Williams, born February 6, 1955 in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a Tennessee politician who formerly served in the Tennessee State Senate and was elected county mayor of Union County in August 2010....

    , while a Tennessee State Senator, became an independent.
  • 2007 – Michael Bloomberg
    Michael Bloomberg
    Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

    , While Mayor of New York City
    Mayor of New York City
    The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...

    , became an independent.
  • 2007 – Lincoln Chafee
    Lincoln Chafee
    Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician who has been the 74th Governor of Rhode Island since January 2011. Prior to his election as governor, Chafee served in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1999 until losing his Senate re-election bid in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon...

    , former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island
    Rhode Island
    The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

    , switched to unaffiliated.
  • 2007 – Rick Singleton, Member of Rhode Island House of Representatives
    Rhode Island House of Representatives
    The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Rhode Island. It is composed of 75 members, elected to two year terms from 75 districts of equal population. The Rhode Island General Assembly does not have...

     upset with “the President of the United States and the Republicans in Washington” switched to Independent
  • 2008 – Jeff Wood
    Jeffrey Wood
    Jeffrey Wood was an independent member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 67th district from 2002 to 2011. He was initially elected as a Republican and later ran as an independent....

    , Wisconsin State Assembly
    Wisconsin State Assembly
    The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....

    man
  • 2008 – Ron Erhardt
    Ron Erhardt
    Ron Erhardt is a former football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels, and from 1979-1981 served as head coach of the National Football League's New England Patriots.-College assistant and high school head coach:...

    , nine term Minnesota State Rep., running for 10th term as independent.
  • 2008 – Alan Keyes
    Alan Keyes
    Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...

    , switched to the Constitution Party after losing the Republican Nomination for President.Then lost the Constitution Party's nomination for president and switched to the newly found America's Independent Party.
  • 2008 – Richard Weldon
    Richard B. Weldon, Jr.
    Richard Weldon was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Maryland District 3B, which covers Frederick and Washington County, Maryland. He defeated Lisa Baugher in 2002 for the new 3B district...

    , two term delegate in the Maryland House of Delegates
    Maryland House of Delegates
    The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

     switched to independent In September
  • 2009 – Ed Coleman
    Ed Coleman (politician)
    Ed Coleman is an American politician from Indianapolis, Indiana. He was first elected as an Indianapolis City-County Council member at-large on November 6, 2007, finishing 4th overall in at-large voting...

    , Indianapolis City-County Councilman, switched to the Libertarian Party by becoming a dues-paying member (No registration by party in Indiana)
  • 2009 – Jim Campbell, Member of Maine House of Representatives
    Maine House of Representatives
    The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state...

     switched to Independent
  • 2009 – Ed Thompson
    Ed Thompson
    Allan Edward "Ed" Thompson , was an American businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin for two non-consecutive terms, and was the Libertarian candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 2002, receiving 11% of the vote in that race. He was elected to his first term as mayor of...

    , Libertarian
    Libertarian Party (United States)
    The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...

     Mayor
    Mayor
    In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

     of Tomah, Wisconsin
    Tomah, Wisconsin
    Tomah is a city in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 9,093. The city is located partially within the Town of Tomah.-Education:...

     switched to Republican to run for the 31st State Senate district
  • 2010 – Charlie Crist
    Charlie Crist
    Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. is an American politician who was the 44th Governor of Florida. Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as Florida State Senator, Education Commissioner, and Attorney General...

    , Governor of Florida, switched to independent in order to stay in that state's 2010 U.S. Senate race after polls showed him unlikely to win the Republican nomination
  • 2010 – Tom Tancredo
    Tom Tancredo
    Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...

    , former Congressman from Colorado
    Colorado
    Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

    , switched to the Constitution Party
    Constitution Party (United States)
    The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...

     in his run for Governor
    Governor of Colorado
    The Governor of Colorado is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the...


Democratic to Republican to Democratic

  • 2010 – Arlen Specter
    Arlen Specter
    Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...

    .
  • 2010 – Jim Bradford
    Jim Bradford
    James Arnold "Jim" Bradford is a teacher, politician and Democratic member of the South Dakota Senate, representing the 27th district since 2009...

    , South Dakota State Representative switched to Republican after losing the Democratic Nomination for State Senate, he then ran on the Republican Line for the State Senate, won in 2009 in what was a Heavily Democratic District, then switched back to the Democratic Party in 2010

Other

  • 1891 – James Weaver, Republican turned Greenbacker
    United States Greenback Party
    The Greenback Party was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology that was active between 1874 and 1884. Its name referred to paper money, or "greenbacks," that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward...

    , later was a founder of the Populist Party
    Populist Party (United States)
    The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

     and ran for President on that party's ticket in 1892.
  • 1941 – Henrik Shipstead
    Henrik Shipstead
    Henrik Shipstead was an American politician. He served in the United States Senate from March 4, 1923, to January 3, 1947, from the state of Minnesota in the 68th, 69th, 70th, 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th Congresses...

    , while U.S. Senator from Minnesota
    Minnesota
    Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

    , switched from the Farmer-Labor Party
    Farmer-Labor Party
    The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought...

     to the Republican Party.
  • 1980 – Thomas M. Foglietta
    Thomas M. Foglietta
    Thomas Michael "Tom" Foglietta was United States Ambassador to Italy and anAmerican politician from the state of Pennsylvania, most notable for his time in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1997....

    , while running for U.S. representative from Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

     as an independent, having previously been a Republican councilman and mayoral candidate, switched to the Democratic party.
  • 2000 – Jesse Ventura
    Jesse Ventura
    James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...

    , while governor of Minnesota
    Governor of Minnesota
    The Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial...

    , left the Reform Party, along with most of his supporters, to refound the Independence Party of Minnesota
    Independence Party of Minnesota
    The Independence Party of Minnesota , formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is the third largest political party in Minnesota, behind the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republican Party . It is the political party of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura , and endorsed former U.S...

    .
  • 2007 – Elaine Brown
    Elaine Brown
    Elaine Brown is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther leader who is based in Oakland, California. She is a former chairperson of the Black Panther Party. Brown briefly ran for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2008...

    , left Green Party became independent after withdrawing from Green Party presidential race.
  • 2008 – Bill Scheurer, Two time candidate for the U.S. House, and Chair of the Illinois Moderate Party, switched to the Green Party.
  • 2008 – Iain Abernathy, Illinois Moderate Party 2008 Candidate for U.S. House, Switched to Green Party.

There have been several instances of politicians continuing to be a member of a political party while running other campaigns as an independent. The most prominent examples include southern Democratic segregationists Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served 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 votes...

 in 1948 and George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...

 in 1968, who remained in the Democratic Party for statewide campaigns but mounted national presidential campaigns as independents.
Wallace later ran in the 1972 Democratic primaries. Earlier, liberal Republican Robert La Follette, Sr. ran for President as the candidate of the Progressive Party in 1924, while still remaining a Republican in the Senate.

Other political figures, such as Zell Miller
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....

, Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...

 and Ed Koch
Ed Koch
Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...

, did not formally leave their parties, but supported a candidate from another party. Miller and Koch, though well-known Democrats, supported Republican George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

's 2004 reelection campaign while Powell supported Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

's 2008 presidential campaign. This received much media attention in 2004, when Democrats for Bush and Republicans for Kerry
Republicans for Kerry
Republicans for Kerry was a non-profit, volunteer-run group of registered Republicans and independent voters. Nicknamed "R4K", these self-proclaimed "Kerry Republicans" supported the 2004 Democratic candidate for president, John Kerry, and encountered some controversy within the GOP and mainstream...

 groups were formed. In New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, former Republican Governor
Governor of New Hampshire
The Governor of the State of New Hampshire is the supreme executive magistrate of the U.S. state of New Hampshire.The governor is elected at the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Vermont, to hold...

 Walter Peterson
Walter R. Peterson, Jr.
Walter Rutherford Peterson, Jr. was an American realtor, educator, and Republican politician from Peterborough, New Hampshire who served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and two terms as Governor of New Hampshire....

 has expressly supported Democrat John Lynch in his bids for governor. Similarly, in 1860, former Democratic President Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....

 ended up supporting Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 due to his disagreements with Democratic policies on secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

. Other examples would include former Republican Senator from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 David Durenberger
David Durenberger
David Ferdinand Durenberger is an American politician and a former Republican member of the U.S. Senate from Minnesota.- Early life :...

 supporting John Kerry in 2004 and former Democratic Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...

 Griffin Bell
Griffin Bell
Griffin Boyette Bell was an American lawyer and former Attorney General. He served as the nation's 72nd Attorney General during the Jimmy Carter administration...

 supporting George W. Bush in 2004.

See also

  • Crossover voting
    Crossover voting
    In open primary elections in the United States, crossover voting refers to a behavior in which voters who normally participate in the primary of one party instead vote in the primary of another party...

  • List of United States Senators who changed parties
  • List of United States Congressmen who switch parties
  • Republican In Name Only
    Republican In Name Only
    Republican In Name Only is a pejorative term that refers to a member of the Republican Party of the United States whose political views or actions are considered insufficiently conservative or otherwise not conforming to party positions...

    , Democrat In Name Only
    Democrat In Name Only
    Democrat In Name Only, or DINO in acronym form, is a disparaging term for a member of the United States Democratic Party. A DINO is considered to be more conservative than fellow Democrats...

  • Red state-blue state divide
  • U.S. state
    U.S. state
    A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

    s, with map
  • Crossing the floor
    Crossing the floor
    In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...

     for the same concept in the Westminster system
    Westminster System
    The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

  • Reagan Democrat
    Reagan Democrat
    Reagan Democrat is an American political term used by analysts to denote traditionally Democratic voters, especially white working-class Northerners, who defected from their party to support Republican President Ronald Reagan in both the 1980 and 1984 elections. It is also used to refer to the...

  • McCain Democrat
    McCain Democrat
    Senator John McCain, the Republican Party nominee, was endorsed or supported by some members of the Democratic Party and by some political figures holding liberal views in the 2008 United States Presidential Election...

  • Obama Republican
    Obama Republican
    United States President Barack Obama, a member of the Democratic Party, was endorsed or supported by some members of the Republican Party and by some political figures holding conservative views in the 2008 election...

  • People United Means Action
    People United Means Action
    PUMA was a political action committee in the United States that opposed the Democratic Party leadership and the nomination of Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President in the 2008 presidential election. PUMA began as an effort of supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who...


External links

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