Manchin’s Retirement From Senate Sparks Rumors of a Third-Party Presidential Run

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is followed to his car by reporters after participating in a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 14, 2021. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) retirement from the U.S. Senate has sparked rumors of his running as a third-party candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

In his Nov. 9 video statement, Sen. Manchin said now that he’s fulfilled his accomplishments for the state of West Virginia, he intends to travel the country “to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”

“Every incentive in Washington is designed to make our politics extreme,” Sen. Manchin said. “The growing divide between Democrats and Republicans is paralyzing Congress and worsening our nation’s problems. The majority of Americans are just plain worn out.”

Sen. Manchin has been frequently associated with No Labels, a centrist organization seeking alternatives to the two-party system.

On whether No Labels would endorse Sen. Manchin as a potential third-party candidate, the organization issued this statement to The Epoch Times: “Regarding our No Labels Unity presidential ticket, we are gathering input from our members across the country to understand the kind of leaders they would like to see in the White House. As we have said from the beginning, we will make a decision by early 2024 about whether we will nominate a Unity presidential ticket and who will be on it.”

No Labels also praised Sen. Manchin’s work in the Senate.

“Senator Joe Manchin is a tireless voice for America’s commonsense majority and a longtime ally of the No Labels movement,” the organization said. “The Senate will lose a great leader when he leaves, but we commend Senator Manchin for stepping up to lead a long overdue national conversation about solving America’s biggest challenges, including inflation, an insecure border, out-of-control debt and growing threats from abroad.”

Americans Together

In August, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sen. Manchin and his daughter Heather Manchin’s $100 million effort to promote centrist policies and candidates.

Ms. Manchin told WSJ that she had registered Americans Together as a politically active nonprofit in July.

“What we both very much agree on is the system is very broken and actually in deep trouble,” Ms. Manchin said. “We have been thinking about what can be done to bring people together.”

Like No Labels, Ms. Manchin said Americans Together will be a home for the “politically homeless.”

In August, Mr. Manchin told Talkline Radio host Hoppy Kercheval that he was thinking “very seriously” about leaving the Democratic party.

“I haven’t made any decisions whatsoever on any of my political direction,” Sen. Manchin said. “I want to make sure my voice is truly an independent voice; when I’m speaking, I’m speaking about the good the Republicans do and the good the Democrats continue to do.”

On Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Manchin said: “For me, I have to have peace of mind basically. 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.”

Mr. Manchin said he couldn’t accept either party and responded by saying, “Absolutely,” when Mr. Kercheval asked if he’d consider becoming an Independent.

He alluded to his daughter’s Americans Together initiative when questioned whether those in the middle still have a voice.

“If we can create a movement that people understand that we could have a voice,” he said. “We could make a big, big splash and maybe bring the traditional parties, the Democratic and Republican Party, back to what they should be today, but they’ve gone off the Richter Scale, both sides.”

Increased Support for Third-Party Candidate

An October Gallup poll reported that 63 percent of U.S. adults welcome a third-party candidate and agree that Republicans and Democrats have done a poor job of representing Americans.

That’s a seven-percentage-point increase from last year, Gallup reported, and the highest since the polling organization asked the question for the first time in 2003.

“Over the past two decades, majorities of U.S. adults have typically agreed that a third party is needed,” Gallup reported. “The last time this wasn’t the case was in 2012, when Americans were evenly divided. Gallup also found close divisions in 2006 and 2008 polls. In 2003, a record-low 40% called for a third party when 56 percent thought the parties were doing ‘an adequate job of representing the American people.’”

More Republicans would like to see a third-party candidate, Gallup reported.

“Most often, support for a third party among Democrats and Republicans is below the majority level,” Gallup reported. “However, this year’s poll shows 58 percent of Republicans endorsing a third U.S. political party, up from 45% a year ago. The only other time more Republicans than now expressed support for a third party was in a late January/early February 2021 conducted after the Jan. 6 riots, the second impeachment of Donald Trump, and the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden.”

Among Democrats, support for a third-party candidate has increased from 40 to 46 percent this year, Gallup said.

Gallup pointed to educator Cornel West’s declaring his candidacy for the Green Party nomination, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent run for president.

“Although the data are not conclusive due to small sample sizes, both conservative Republicans and moderate/liberal Republicans appear more likely to endorse a third party than they were a year ago,” Gallup stated.

In response to The Epoch Times’ request for comment, a spokesperson for Sen. Manchin said he had nothing more to add to the statement given on Nov. 9, at this time.