Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) is returning to the political arena with an ambitious new mission: electing independent candidates who could weaken the two major parties’ grip on Congress.
The 78-year-old former West Virginia senator announced the Independent Leadership Council, an organization designed to recruit candidates and provide them with the fundraising, strategic and organizational support typically supplied by a political party.
Manchin will lead the council alongside his daughter, Heather Manchin, a former pharmaceutical executive who founded the centrist nonprofit Americans Together.
“We’re not trying to start another party,” Manchin told CNN. Instead, he said the organization is looking for candidates “totally committed to being an independent with an independent voice.”
Manchin offered a similar description to Semafor, saying the goal is to build a “true independent network” that can pull national politics toward the center.
The project will combine work already underway at Americans Together with Independent PAC, an organization led by former FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon. Semafor reported that the effort could eventually direct millions of dollars toward independent candidates in competitive races.
The council held its inaugural summit in West Virginia this week, bringing prospective candidates together with donors and political strategists.
Participants included California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the Republican Party in March and is seeking reelection as an independent. Kiley continues to caucus with House Republicans to retain his committee assignments but has promised to serve as an independent voice in Congress, according to reports.
Independent Montana Senate candidate Seth Bodnar and Iowa congressional candidate Michael Bridgford also attended. The council is examining additional races in Alaska and Washington, while Alaska congressional candidate Bill Hill has also been identified as a possible beneficiary of the new network.
“The gathering served as both a strategy session and a call to action for Americans who believe the country’s most important problems cannot be solved through partisan warfare alone,” the Independent Leadership Council said in a statement.
If the council endorses candidates, Manchin and his allies could campaign with them, raise money and build ground operations in their states and districts. Heather Manchin described the 2026 effort as a pilot project that could expand substantially if even a small number of candidates succeed.
The strategy rests partly on the razor-thin margins that have defined Congress in recent years. Manchin believes a handful of lawmakers who are not formally controlled by either party could hold significant leverage during leadership elections and major legislative fights.
Despite launching the organization, Manchin insists he is not preparing another campaign of his own.
“I don’t see me getting back into the fray, I really don’t,” he told CNN, adding that he now wants to help others pursue the bipartisan approach that defined much of his Senate career.
Manchin spent decades as a Democrat, serving as West Virginia’s governor before winning election to the Senate in 2010. He frequently frustrated Democratic leaders by opposing progressive priorities and forcing changes to former President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda.
In May 2024, Manchin formally left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, arguing that both parties had abandoned compromise in favor of partisan extremes. At the time, he pledged to put “country before party.” He retired when his Senate term ended in January 2025.
His new initiative arrives as more Americans distance themselves from both major parties.
A January Gallup survey found that a record 45% of American adults identified as independents in 2025, compared with 27% each who identified as Republicans or Democrats.
Those numbers do not necessarily translate into a unified independent voting bloc. Gallup found that 20% of Americans were Democratic-leaning independents, 15% leaned Republican and only 10% identified as independents without leaning toward either party.
Independent candidates also enter races without the fundraising lists, voter data, ballot-access assistance, and campaign infrastructure available to Republican and Democrat nominees. Manchin’s council is betting that a national support network can begin closing that gap — and turn widespread voter frustration into victories at the ballot box.
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