Congress members who have changed party or left

WASHINGTON – The recent announcement by Rep. Justin Amash that he is leaving the Republican Party makes him a small group of Congressmen who have left a party or changed party in recent history.

In an editorial published in the Washington Post on July 4, Amash said modern politics was "stuck in a spiral of partisan death" and announced his resignation from the GOP to become independent. Amash is the only Republican member of Congress to have declared his support for the removal of President Donald Trump.

After Amash's declaration of political independence, Trump takes it to the Michigan legislature, calling it "one of the most stupid and disloyal" of Congress.

Political affiliation changes are not unusual in American politics. Hillary Clinton has already volunteered for the candidacy of Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964 and has actively participated in Republican politics as a young Republican before becoming a Democrat. Teddy Roosevelt was again elected president in 1912 as the Bull Moose representative, rather than representing himself as a Republican.

Amash's decision to change party during his term is, however, unique.

"Amash is the first member of the Republican House of Representatives to leave the GOP in 20 years," said Antoine Yoshinaka, professor of political science at New York State University in Buffalo and author of a 2015 book on the party change.

According to Senate data, only three senators changed party in the 21st century. An analysis by the United States today of congressional biographical data shows that only five members of the House of Representatives have changed party in the 21st century. After changing parties, most outgoing members lose their re-election or retire.

Amash leaves the GOP: Justin Amash, the only Republican in Congress to support the dismissal of Trump, says he's now independent

Trump answers: Trump takes it to Justin Amash and calls it "one of the most stupid and most disloyal" of the Congress

Amash is the third Republican to leave the party in the 21st century

Two other Republican congressional members have left the party since 2000. In 2001, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party for what he considered a change right in the party platform, claiming in a speech made at the time changed the etiquette of my party, but I did not change my beliefs. "Jeffords, like Amash, became independent, though Jeffords was caucused with the Democrats.

In 2009, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania left the Republican Party to become a Democrat. He lost his bid for re-election in 2010 of Senator Pat Toomey, who had originally challenged Spectrum during the Republican primary.

Change with the political winds

Most members of the House of Representatives called to change party during his tenure in the last century were Southern Democrats, becoming Republicans when the political winds changed and the South became redder. Parker Griffith, a congressman from Alabama, rose from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in December 2009 amid the debate over the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Griffith then lost the Republican primary to Mo Brooks.

"Amash is the first Republican member of the House of Representatives to leave the GOP," said Yoshinaka, pointing out that the last Republican member of the House to leave the party was New York MLA Michael Forbes, who had left the Republican Party for the Democratic Party. in 1999 and lost in the 2000 Democratic primary.

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Some members have changed party several times

Virginia's representative, Virgil Goode, was re-elected in 2000 after moving from Democrat to Independent and in 2002, when he became Republican. At the time of his first change, he had declared that he wished to be able to vote in accordance with his principles without being subjected to pressure from a political party.

"Some Democrats did not tell you that you had not voted enough for the national party," he said in January 2000, according to the Washington Post. "I will vote as I have been in the past."

Goode was re-elected in 2008 by Democrat Tom Perriello.

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The future of Amash in the House is not clear

The rules of the House Republican Conference are unclear as to what happens if a congressman leaves the party.

According to the rules, "All Republican members of the House of Representatives … and other members of the House, as determined by the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives …, shall be members of the Conference."

A vote on 2/3 of the entire Republican conference, about 132 of the 198 members of the conference, would be required to expel a member.

In addition, Amash can not be removed from office on the House's powerful oversight committee without passing a resolution by the House of Representatives, forcing some Democrats to vote in favor of the House. resolution.

The electoral future of Amash is more uncertain, however. The Detroit Free Press noted that a large number of Republicans had lined up against him in the Republican primary, and now that Amash has left the Republican Party, the race to his district is turning into a three-way fight between Republicans, Amash, and the Democrats.

Party change does not always mark the end of a political career.

Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., Who currently chairs the Senate's powerful credentials committee, was first elected as a Democrat in 1986 and replaced by the Republican Party in 1994. He has since won all elections.

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