WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.V. – A year and a half after leaving office, former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is embarking on a new political chapter with an initiative designed to elect independents to Congress.
"The way the parties have weaponized the political process today, they make it impossible to have a 'D' or an 'R' next to your name and speak to the other side," said the former senator.
The Democrat-turned-independent, alongside his daughter Heather Manchin, is launching the Independent Leadership Council to support and elect independents. It combines the forces of her Americans Together organization and the Independent Center, a nonprofit that studies and engages with independent voters.
"This is not about a third party. This is about people running outside the two party system," she told NPR. "We're willing to go out there and campaign, we're going to be fundraising, we're going to put our arms around this effort to do all we can, because the infrastructure for independents lacks significantly."
The announcement of the effort came on Friday as the Manchins convened a gathering of roughly 40 people, including high-profile donors, political reform advocates and several independent candidates at the Greenbrier Resort, a storied property in the former senator's home state that features a Cold War-era bunker designed to house every member of Congress in the event of a nuclear attack.
"Clearly, we haven't had the worst happen as was envisioned by the bunker, but I think many of the fears of our founders about the harm of a deeply entrenched two-party system have come to pass," said Rep. Kevin Kiley, one of the candidates in attendance. The California congressman left the GOP in March to become an independent.
"The division is getting worse, the polarization is getting worse, the gridlock in Congress is getting worse. So I think there is a dawning realization among more and more people that we need to chart a different course," Kiley said.
Independent candidates have long had an uphill battle, locked out of the massive fundraising and infrastructure advantage of the two main parties. To help address those challenges, the gathering enabled eight independent candidates to meet face-to-face with donors.
"The candidates needed to know that they could trust people to believe in their vision as an independent candidate, and funders and donors needed to trust that there was going to be an actionable plan that would really turn out results in November," said Seth Cohen, a senior adviser at the Independent Center and one of the co-founders of the Independent Leadership Council.
That plan includes harnessing data collected by the Independent Center, which has been using AI to identify districts where independents have the best chance of succeeding.
"We have to show that it's not just that we have a good strategy, but that the strategy can win," said Adam Brandon, another senior adviser at the Independent Center. "This isn't about a moral victory – this is about winning. And so we had to show that every candidate we had here has a path to victory."
After he closed down his organization FreedomWorks — the conservative grassroots group that helped turn Tea Party activists into a major political force — he connected with the Manchins, and began talking about the idea of independents as the path forward.
"Good people go to Washington and the system grinds them up," he said. "You have to break free and only independents can do that."
Brandon said he's fond of the Field of Dreams adage — if you build it, they will come; something he said is bearing out on the fundraising after the retreat.
"We have over eight figures in commitments," said Brandon. "So that means we're going to be able to go and actually start supporting some of these candidates. You're going to see viable independent candidates in the field in America really for the first time in my lifetime."
Getting money behind candidates
The Manchins haven't officially endorsed candidates yet, and are clear they're being strategic about their goals.
"We're not out here saying, we're going to run 50 people," Heather Manchin said. "We're talking about a handful. If we can show one or two getting in, it just unlocks the untapped potential of giving independents a voice in this country."
Early this year, a Gallup poll showed 45% of Americans identified as political independents in 2025. Exit polls in 2024 showed 34% of voters identified as independent, up from 26% in 2020.
"They don't believe in these extreme causes and going to the extreme mats and fighting each other and hating the other side," said Joe Manchin.
He said the candidates at the retreat signed a "Declaration of Independents" — a nod to the country's 250th anniversary.
"The pledge is simply this: that you remain independent and not be part of the Democrat or Republican system," he said. "We're going to challenge the system."
A core thesis of the effort is to ensure that successful candidates don't go on to caucus with either party once they get to Capitol Hill. Current independent Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine both caucus with Democrats.
Kiley, who's locked in a tight race for reelection, continues to caucus with Republicans for the remainder of his term, but said his goal if reelected is to change House rules so that independents could serve on committees without having to caucus with either party.
"It makes absolutely no sense that in order to serve on a committee, which is a huge, huge part of being in the House, that you're forced to caucus with one or the other," said Kiley.
He said he thinks a few more independents in the House could change the way the body operates.
"Given how closely divided the chamber is, it could be a real sea change," he said. "Most of the energy in Washington is spent trying to blame the other side for our problems as opposed to trying to come together to solve those problems. If we get a few more independents who are able to work with both sides and hold both sides accountable, we could change that."
Michael Bridgford, who's running in a tossup district in Iowa, said the potential of not being on a committee if he wins isn't something he hears about on the campaign trail.
"This is literally the least productive Congress in history," he said. "And so being on those committees, if they're not accomplishing anything, I'm not sure what that yields."
He said he thinks even two independents would have an influence if the margins remain thin in the House.
"We only need a couple of people to really make some big changes day one — having a say in who the next speaker is going to be, having a say in how the rules of Congress are going to function."
Former Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon, who spoke at the Greenbrier gathering, said it's possible for independents to have an outsized role if the makeup of the next Congress looks close to the current one.
"For this to work, whoever wins the majority, it's going to have to be very, very thin like it is today," he said. "As an independent, your strength is in a slim majority because when the key votes come, they're going to need your vote."
Copyright 2026 NPR
