In the politics of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
party switching
Party switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.
Party switching also occurs quite commonly in Brazil, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, India, Malaysia , and the P ...
is any change in
party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one who is currently holding elected office. Use of the term "party switch" can also connote a transfer of holding power in an elected governmental body from one party to another.
History
19th century
The first two major parties in the United States were the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801.
De ...
and the
Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
. The Federalists experienced success in the 1790s but lost power in the
1800 elections and collapsed after the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. Many former Federalists, including
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...
, became members of the Democratic-Republican Party. After the
1824 presidential election, the Democratic-Republicans fractured between supporters of Adams and supporters of
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
. Jackson's followers formed the Democratic Party, while those who supported Adams formed the
National Republican Party. Two short-lived but significant third parties, the
Anti-Masonic Party
The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry, but later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. After ...
and the
Nullifier Party
The Nullifier Party was an American political party based in South Carolina in the 1830s. Considered an early American third party, it was started by John C. Calhoun in 1828.
The Nullifier Party was a states' rights, pro-slavery party that s ...
, also arose during this period. In the 1830s, opponents of Jackson coalesced into the
Whig Party.
The United States experienced another period of political realignment in the 1850s. The Whigs collapsed as a national party due to sectional tensions regarding slavery. The Republican Party and the
American Party both sought to succeed the Whigs as the main opposition to the Democratic Party, and the Republicans eventually became the most popular party in the Northern United States. The Republicans absorbed many Northern Whigs, as well as some anti-slavery Democrats and much of the
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...
. Notable Whigs who joined the Republican Party include
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
and
William Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...
, while notable Democrats who joined the Republican Party include
Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican ...
and
Galusha A. Grow. Many Southern Whigs became Democrats, though some formed the
Constitutional Union Party to contest the
1860 presidential election. During the
Reconstruction Era
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
that followed the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, many Republicans and African Americans held office in the South. Republicans dissatisfied with
Radical Republican
The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Recon ...
President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
formed the
Liberal Republican Party for the
1872 presidential election, and many of these Liberal Republicans later joined the Democratic Party. After the end of Reconstruction the Republican Party generally dominated the North, while a resurgent Democratic Party dominated the South.
By the late 19th century, as the Democratic and Republican parties became more established, party switching became less frequent. Nonetheless major conflicts in both major parties occurred in the 1890s, largely over the issue of
monetary policy
Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...
, and Republican supporters of
free silver formed the
Silver Republican Party
The Silver Republican Party, later known as the Lincoln Republican Party, was a United States political party from 1896 to 1901. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party by supporting free silver (effectively, expansionary mone ...
. Many of these, including
Henry M. Teller and
Fred Dubois
Fred Thomas Dubois (May 29, 1851February 14, 1930) was a controversial American politician from Idaho who served two terms in the United States Senate. He was best known for his opposition to the gold standard and his efforts to disenfranchise ...
, later joined the Democratic Party.
20th century
Following
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's loss to
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
in the
1912 Republican Party presidential primaries, Roosevelt and his followers broke off from the Republican party to form the
Bull Moose Party
The Progressive Party was a third party in the United States formed in 1912 by former president Theodore Roosevelt after he lost the presidential nomination of the Republican Party to his former protégé rival, incumbent president William ...
. Wisconsin senator
Robert M. La Follette
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...
also launched a presidential bid under the
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
in 1924 after both the Republican Party and Democratic Party nominated conservative candidates. A period of realignment commenced following the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, as President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
constructed the successful
New Deal coalition. Over the ensuing decades, Roosevelt's Democrats embraced several tenets of
modern American liberalism, while the Republican Party tended to favor
conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
.
The transition into today's Democratic Party was cemented in 1948, when
Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
introduced a pro-civil rights platform and, in response, many Democrats walked out and formed the
Dixiecrats. Most rejoined the Democrats over the next decade, but in the 1960s,
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
passed the
Civil Rights Act
Civil Rights Act may refer to several acts of the United States Congress, including:
* Civil Rights Act of 1866, extending the rights of emancipated slaves by stating that any person born in the United States regardless of race is an American ci ...
and
Voting Rights Act
The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...
. The civil rights movement had also deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States, and Republican politicians developed strategies that successfully contributed to the
political realignment
A political realignment, often called a critical election, critical realignment, or realigning election, in the academic fields of political science and political history, is a set of sharp changes in party ideology, issues, party leaders, regional ...
of many white, conservative voters in the South who had traditionally supported the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party. These approaches are known as
the Southern strategy. Anti-civil rights members left the Democratic Party in droves, and Senator
Strom Thurmond, the Dixiecrats' presidential candidate from 1948, joined the Republican Party.
Notable party switchers
Liberal Republican
Robert La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his l ...
ran for president as the candidate of the Progressive Party in 1924, while remaining a Republican in the Senate. There have also been several instances of politicians continuing to be a member of a political party while running other campaigns as an independent. The most prominent examples include southern Democratic segregationists
Strom Thurmond in 1948 and
George Wallace in 1968, who remained in the Democratic Party for statewide campaigns but mounted national presidential campaigns as independents. Wallace later ran in the 1972 Democratic primaries. Senator
Joseph Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for Vi ...
in 2006 ran for Senate in Connecticut under the party Connecticut for Lieberman, although still identifying as a Democrat.
Other political figures, such as
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
,
Jim Leach
James Albert Smith Leach (born October 15, 1942) is an American academic and former politician. He served as ninth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009 to 2013 Pogrebin, Robin"Rocco Landesman Confirmed as Chairman of the ...
,
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U. ...
,
Colin Powell, did not formally leave their parties, but supported a candidate from another party. Miller and Koch, though Democrats, supported Republican
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's 2004 reelection campaign, while Powell and Leach supported
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's 2008 presidential campaign. This received much media attention in 2004, when
Democrats for Bush and
Republicans for Kerry groups were formed. In
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, former Republican
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Walter Peterson has expressly supported Democrat
John Lynch in his bids for governor. In
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction,
Linwood Holton, has since 2001 frequently supported Democrats in statewide races – his son-in-law,
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgi ...
, has been elected to the governorship and the U.S. Senate in that time, and served as chairman of the
Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party's nominee for
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
in the
2016 election – and endorsed Barack Obama in 2008. Similarly, in 1860, former Democratic President
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...
ended up supporting
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
due to Van Buren's disagreements with Democratic policies on
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
. Other examples include former Republican Senator from
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
David Durenberger
David Ferdinand Durenberger (born August 19, 1934) is a retired American politician and attorney. Durenberger represented Minnesota in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1978 to 1995. He left the Republican Party in 2005 and has become ...
supporting John Kerry in 2004 and former Democratic
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Griffin Bell
Griffin Boyette Bell (October 31, 1918 – January 5, 2009) was the 72nd Attorney General of the United States, having served under President Jimmy Carter. Previously, he was a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fift ...
supporting George W. Bush in 2004. Moreover, former
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Democrat
Mike Espy
Alphonso Michael Espy (born November 30, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He was both the first African American and first person from the Deep South to ...
endorsed incumbent Republican
Governor of Mississippi
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as chairman of the Republican ...
for reelection in
2007.
During Donald Trump's presidency one governor and two congressmen switched parties due mostly to their support or opposition to the president's policies. On August 3, 2017,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
Governor
Jim Justice announced that he had rejoined the Republican Party after having been elected as a Democrat less than a year prior. He made the announcement at a rally in
Huntington alongside Trump and claimed that he was returning to the GOP because he could not help the president while he was a Democrat. The announcement came as a surprise even to his own staff. This also made Justice the first Republican governor of West Virginia since
Cecil Underwood
Cecil Harland Underwood (November 5, 1922 – November 24, 2008) was an American Republican Party politician from West Virginia, known for the length of his career.
He was the 25th and 32nd Governor of West Virginia from 1957 to 1961, and from ...
in 2001. In 2019, Democratic congressman
Jefferson H. Van Drew left the party because of his opposition to Trump's first impeachment and his own political beliefs.
Both
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
and
Van Drew were reelected as Republicans in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. Conversely, Republican congressman
Justin Amash
Justin Amash ( ; born April 18, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. Originally a Republican, Amash joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020, becoming the party's first (an ...
of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
left the GOP to become an independent on July 4, 2019 due to his opposition to Trump. Later Amash joined the
Libertarian Party
Active parties by country
Defunct parties by country
Organizations associated with Libertarian parties
See also
* Liberal parties by country
* List of libertarian organizations
* Lists of political parties
Lists of political part ...
in 2020 and did not seek reelection.
Motivations
Politicians may switch parties if they believe their views are no longer aligned with those of their current party.
Richard Shelby of Alabama left the Democratic Party for the Republican Party, arguing that the former party had shifted more towards
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born April 13, 1933) is an American Cheyenne politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993, and as a United States Senator from Colorado f ...
of Colorado switched parties from Democratic to Republican following increased hostility within the Democratic Party in Colorado over Campbell's increased conservative voting record and independent streak while the local party became more liberal.
A disaffected incumbent who might not hold a leadership position or feels ignored or mistreated by the majority party might join the minority party with the expectation of holding a leadership position in the minority party and if currently elected, having the complete support of the minority party for re-election, who would certainly want to have more elected officials in their ranks. The party the person left is likely to consider him or her to be a
Benedict Arnold.
Some politicians have also switched parties to improve their chances for reelection.
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...
, a former US Senator of Pennsylvania, cited his uncertainty of winning a Republican primary as one reason for his move to the Democratic Party.
See also
*
List of American politicians who switched parties in office
The following American politicians switched parties while they were holding elected office.
Federal
State
Local
See also
* List of Canadian politicians who have crossed the floor
* List of elected British politicians who have chang ...
*
List of United States senators who switched parties
This list includes United States senators who switched parties while serving in the Senate.
List 19th century
20th century
21st century
See also
* Party switching in the United States
* List of United States representatives who switched p ...
*
List of United States representatives who switched parties
The following are members of the United States House of Representatives who switched parties while serving in Congress.
See also
* List of United States senators who switched parties
*List of party switchers in the United States
*Party switching ...
*
List of party switchers in the United States
Switches by Democrats Democratic to Republican 1800–1899
* 1855 – Reuben Fenton, while U.S. Representative from New York (1853–1855 and 1857–1864), later Governor of New York (1865–1868) & U.S. Senator from New York (1869–1875).
* ...
*
Southern strategy
In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. As the civil rights movement and dismantling of ...
*
Crossover voting
In primary elections in the United States, crossover voting refers to a behavior in which voters cast ballots for a party with which they are not traditionally affiliated. Even in the instance of closed primary elections, in which voters are req ...
*
Republican In Name Only,
Democrat In Name Only
*
Red state-blue state divide
Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...
*
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
s, with map
*
Crossing the floor
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...
for the same concept in the
Westminster system
*
Democrats for Nixon
*
Reagan Democrat
A Reagan Democrat is a traditionally Democratic voter in the Northern United States, referring to working class residents who supported Republican presidential candidates Ronald Reagan in the 1980 or the 1984 presidential elections, or Georg ...
*
McCain Democrat
*
Obama Republican
*
People United Means Action
References
External links
Senators Who Changed Parties During Senate Service (Since 1890)A list of party switchers (compiled in 2001)An overview of party switching in recent years"Party switching comes with political risks"Oklahoma State Senator Nancy Riley switches from Republican to DemocratMontana State Senator switches from Republican to Democrat to break a 25 to 25 tieMayor Michael Bloomberg's official homepageWave of Party Switchers Hits RepublicansSpecter Among Few Party Switchers to Lose Seat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Party Switching In The United States
Political history of the United States
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...