Sen. Joe Manchin Switches Party Registration to Independent, Prompting Speculation About His Political Future

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — a longtime moderate Democrat — has switched his party registration to independent mere months before he was expected to leave the Senate, raising questions about whether he intends to mount another campaign.

On Friday, May 31, Manchin posted a photo on X that appears to show him holding an updated voter registration form.

In a follow-up statement released on Friday, Manchin said, "Throughout my days in elected office, I have always been proud of my commitment to common sense, bipartisanship and my desire to bring people together. It’s who I am. It’s who I will always be. I have never seen America through a partisan lens."

"Today, our national politics are broken and neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground," he continued. "To stay true to myself and remain committed to put country before party, I have decided to register as an independent with no party affiliation and continue to fight for America’s sensible majority."

Manchin, 76, revealed in November that he did not intend to seek reelection in 2024, which would almost certainly hand his Senate seat to Republicans in the deep-red state of West Virginia. At the time, he had teased running for president on a third-party ticket, but then he ruled that out, too.

The former West Virginia governor is a rare Democrat who has found success in the Mountain State, touting his moderate values and willingness to challenge his own party to win over conservative voters. He has long entertained the idea of leaving the Democratic Party, but never took steps toward changing his registration.

The timing of his party switch — months before his presumed retirement from politics and just ahead of the deadline to file as an independent in West Virginia — quickly ignited murmurs that he may cave to pressure from Democrats at the last moment and run for another term in Senate, to prevent the seat from turning red.

Another theory is that he could be eyeing his old job as governor.

Manchin, who currently chairs the Senate Energy Committee, was elected to Congress' upper chamber in 2010, after serving nearly six years as West Virginia governor.

He rose through the ranks of West Virginia politics the old-fashioned way, beginning as a state delegate in the '80s, then serving in the state Senate for 10 years, then becoming secretary of state before launching his gubernatorial bid.