Manchin ‘thinking seriously’ about leaving Democrats to become independent

Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia said Thursday that he’s been considering leaving the Democratic Party “for quite some time,” marking an escalation in his long-running flirtation with becoming an independent.

“I would think very seriously about that. I’ve been thinking about that for quite some time,” the conservative Democrat told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval.

“I haven’t made any decisions whatsoever on any of my political direction. I want to make sure that my voice is truly an independent voice,” he said.

Mr. Manchin has not said whether he will seek reelection next year as Republicans line up to challenge him in the ruby-red state. He also hasn’t ruled out a third-party bid against President Biden.

Mr. Manchin has increasingly leaned into the idea of following in the footsteps of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona by switching from Democrat to independent as the 2024 election grows near, despite previously saying after Ms. Sinema’s change in party affiliation he had no intention of doing the same.

“I have no intention of doing anything right now. Whether I do something later, I can’t tell you what the future is going to bring,” Mr. Manchin said last December. “I’m not a Washington Democrat … People are registering more for independent than any other party affiliation. They are sick and tired of it.”

Mr. Manchin used similar rhetoric in Thursday’s interview, criticizing the “extremes” of both parties for “having gone off the Richter Scale” and whacking the Democratic brand as “so bad.” He said that he currently “can’t accept either party.”

“I’m thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind,” Mr. Manchin said of becoming an independent. “The brand has become so bad — the ’D’ brand and ’R’ brand. In West Virginia, the ’D’ brand because it’s nationally bad. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia. It’s the Democrats in Washington, or the Washington policies of the Democrats. You’ve heard me say a million times that I’m not a Washington Democrat.”

Leaving the Democratic Party would mean the Senate’s small number of independents would grow to four, with the others being Ms. Sinema, Sen. Angus King of Maine and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

All three current independents caucus with Democrats, allowing them to maintain a narrow one-seat majority.

Mr. Manchin says a decision on his political future will likely come around year’s end. If he does choose to seek another term in the upper chamber, he’ll face long odds in a state former President Donald Trump won by about 39 percentage points in 2020.

A poll from East Carolina Center for Survey Research in May found Mr. Manchin trailed Republican Gov. Jim Justice by 22 points in a hypothetical match-up. Rep. Alex Mooney is running against Mr. Justice for the Republican primary nomination.

In his last reelection bid, Mr. Manchin bested West Virginia Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in 2018 by a little more than three points.

The Democrat has become increasingly hostile to President Biden’s green energy agenda as 2024 draws near by calling it “radical,” opposing nominees and trashing the very tax-and-climate spending law — the Inflation Reduction Act — that he helped write.

Mr. Manchin once again batted down the notion that a third-party presidential run would hand the keys to the White House over to Mr. Trump, as many of his Democratic colleagues fear.

“I don’t see that favoring either side because you just can’t tell how this is going to break,” he said. “The bottom line is, will the middle speak up? Does the middle have a voice?”

Mr. Manchin continued: “If we can create a movement that people understand, we could have a voice. We can make a big, big splash, and maybe bring the traditional parties of the Democratic and Republican Party back to what they should be today.”