1865 – John A. Logan, while U.S. Representative from Illinois, later U.S. Senator from Illinois (1871–1877 and 1879–1886)
c. 1865 – Knute Nelson, later Wisconsin state assemblyman (1868–1869), Minnesota state senator (1874–1878), U.S. representative from Minnesota (1883–1889), Governor of Minnesota (1893–1895), and U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1895–1923)[1]
2023 – Megan Hunt, Nebraska State Senator, left the Democratic Party to become an independent, but has previously been a member of the Republican and Libertarian parties.[188]
1880 – C. H. J. Taylor, African American journalist. He was later Minister of Liberia (1887–1888) and Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia (1893–1897)[191][192]
1893 – George Edwin Taylor, newspaper editor and later president of the National Negro Democratic League.[193]
1951 – James C. Oliver, former U.S. Representative from Maine (1937–1943), Democratic nominee for Governor of Maine in 1952, later served as U.S. Representative from Maine (1959–1961).[215]
1960–1969
1960s – Pete Stark, later served as U.S. Representative from California (1973–2013)
2011 – Joel Robideaux, while a Louisiana State Representative. He was initially elected as an independent.[379]
2016 – Blake Filippi, Rhode Island State Representative, switched from Independent to Republican; he had also been Republican previously until 2012.[380]
Multiple party switches
Democratic to Republican to Democratic
1854 – Francis Preston Blair, a supporter of presidents Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln who became disillusioned with radical Reconstruction policies.
1854 – Francis Preston Blair Jr., Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1868. His family had been unwavering supporters of Republican Abraham Lincoln, but he opposed the post-war Reconstruction policy. He had earlier been a friend of Democrat Thomas Hart Benton, and like his father he had also been a member of the Free Soil Party.
1854 – Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General for President Lincoln. His family left the Democratic Party to join the Republican Party, but he rejoined the Democratic Party after the war.
1965 – Arlen Specter, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1981–2011). He was a Republican from 1965 to 2009 and a Democrat from 1951 to 1965 and 2009 to 2012.[381]
2008 – Jim Bradford, South Dakota State Representative.
2009 – Parker Griffith, former U.S. Representative from Alabama (2009–2011). Joined the Republican Party in 2009, but returned to the Democratic Party in 2014.[385]
2012 – Artur Davis, former U.S. Representative from Alabama (2003–2011). Joined the Republican Party in 2012, but returned to the Democratic Party in 2015.[386]
2015 – Joe Baca, former U.S. Representative from California (1999–2013). Joined the Republican Party in 2015, but returned to the Democratic Party in 2018.[387][388]
Republican to Democratic to Republican
1960 – Jerry Solomon, later U.S. Representative from New York (1979–1999)[389]
1897 – John F. Shafroth, U.S. representative (1895–1904), governor (1909–1913), and U.S. senator from Colorado (1913–1919). First elected as a Republican, became a Silver Republican in 1897, and a Democrat in 1903.[394]
1908 – Theodore A. Bell, former U.S. Representative from California (1903–1905). He ran in several elections under different party's banners.
1912 – Edward P. Costigan, later a U.S. senator from Colorado (1931–1937). Initially a Republican, launched the Progressive Party of Colorado in 1912, and was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1930. [395]
1913 – Miles Poindexter, U.S. Senator from Washington (1911–1923) switched to the Progressive Party until rejoining the Republican Party two years later.[396]
1920 – Homer Bone, later a Washington state representative (1923–1925), U.S. senator from Washington (1933–1944) and judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1944–1970). First a member of the Socialist Party, unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House in 1920 with the Farmer–Labor Party and was elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 1923 with the Farmer–Labor Party, unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. House seat in 1928 as a Republican, and finally registered as a Democrat in 1932 to run for the U.S. Senate.[397]
1952 – Wayne Morse, U.S. Senator from Oregon (1945–1969), changed from Republican to Independent in 1952[398] and Independent to Democrat on February 17, 1955[399]
1988 – Ron Paul, former U.S. Representative (1976–1977 and 1979–1985), ran for president as a Libertarian. He later returned to Congress as a Republican (1997–2012).
1994 – Wes Watkins, Democratic U.S Congressman from Oklahoma (1977–1991), Democratic (1990) & Independent (1994) candidate for Governor of Oklahoma and Republican U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma (1997–2003)
1999 – Bob Smith, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (1990–2003), left the Republican Party on July 13, 1999, while running for the party's presidential nomination; became an independent and declared himself a candidate for the U.S. Taxpayers Party presidential nomination and an independent candidate. On November 1, 1999, he returned to the Republican Party when a Senate committee chairmanship became open.[404]
1999 – Donald Trump, businessman and real-estate developer, later 45th President of the United States has been at various times a Republican, Democratic, Independent, and Reform Party member.
2001 – Michael Bloomberg, was a Democrat before running for Mayor of New York City as a Republican. He later became an independent before rejoining the Democratic Party in 2018.[408]
2004 – Kyrsten Sinema, U.S. Senator from Arizona (2019–present) and former U.S. Representative from Arizona (2013–2019), left the Green Party in 2004 to join the Democratic Party, then later became an independent.[409]
2008 – Mike Gravel, former U.S. Senator from Alaska (1969–1981) and 2008 presidential candidate switched from Democratic to Libertarian before returning to the Democratic Party in 2010.[412]
2009 – Jared Kushner, former Senior Advisor to the President (2017–2021) and Director of the Office of American Innovation (2017–2021), has been at various times a Democrat, Independent, and Republican.
2010 – Tom Tancredo, former U.S. Representative from Colorado (1999–2009), switched to the Constitution Party to run for Governor of Colorado, returned to Republican Party in 2011, became an Independent in 2015, returned to the Republican Party again in 2017
2017 – Bob Krist, Nebraska State Senator was elected as a Republican, switched to an Independent and then a Democrat to run for Governor of Nebraska, then returned to the Republican party.[415]
2019 – S. Marshall Wilson, then member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, changed his party affiliation from Republican to Independent in 2019, then to the third party America Coming Together in 2022, and then to the US Constitution Party in 2023.[416][417][418]
2021 – Malinda White, while a Louisiana State Representative, switched from Independent to Republican; she had been a Democrat until 2021.
^Gieske, Millard L.; Keillor, Steven James (1995). Norwegian Yankee: Knute Nelson and the failure of American politics, 1860 - 1923. Biographical series / Norwegian-American Historical Association. Northfield, Minn: Norwegian-American Historical Association. ISBN978-0-87732-083-8.
^Mcneil, Kate (October 19, 2008). "3D: chaffetz profile". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
^Howard E. Covington Jr. and Marion A. Ellis, Terry Sanford: Politics, Progress, and Outrageous Ambitions. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999, 489
^Ammons, David (April 17, 2006). "GOP defector says party is 'out of touch'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 28, 2023. "No party fits any area perfectly," said Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, of Kirkland, who shifted to the Republicans in 1994 and whose vote helped put the gay rights bill over the top this year.
^Staff Writer. "Long fight ahead, Redistricting battles show signs of a lengthy, ugly war". Spartanburg Herald Journal. Retrieved November 28, 2023. A third sign was the defection last week of Rep. Greg Delleney from the Democratic Party to the Republicans. Delleney said he switched in part to protect Chester County's House district during reapportionment.
^Taylor, Nikki (2013). America's First Black Socialist:The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark. University Press of Kentucky. p. 286. ISBN978-0813140773.
^"Short Review of the Career of the Late C.H.J. Taylor and Favorable Mention of His Widow, Mrs. Julia A. Taylor". Broad Ax (Salt Lake City). January 2, 1904.
^For Labor, Race, and Liberty: George Edwin Taylor, his historic run for the White House, and the making of Independent Black Politics, by Bruce L. Mouser (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2012).
^Finkelman, Paul, ed. Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press, 2009. pp. 137–138.
^Weiss Malkiel, Nancy. Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in the Age of FDR. Princeton University Press. p. 92. Retrieved March 19, 2024. 'Mr. Vare thinks Negroes in this city don't have enough sense to switch parties and now is the time to show him that he is mistaken.' The black press took up Shepard's theme: if the Republicans failed to give adequate political recognition, blacks would vote Democratic. Shepard himself led the way: in 1934, he won election to the Pennsylvania legislature as a Democrat.
^Hughes, Edward J. (ed.). "Members of Sixtieth General Assembly-Biographies and Portraits". Illinois Blue Book 1937-1938. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Secretary of State. p. 139. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
^Maisel, Louis Sandy; Forman, Ira N. (2001). Jews in American Politics. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Retrieved April 3, 2024. In the fall of 1976, the longtime Republican switched parties and was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate. Zorinsky's party switch was tactical, as it became apparent he would not win the Republican nomination to the Senate.
^"Texas Legislators Past & Present: Bernard Erickson". Texas Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved April 29, 2018. (1) Party switch from Republican to Democrat on 12/31/1993. Dallas Morning News 1/1/1994, "Legislator finds new party for new year." Legislative Clipping Service.
^Raffaele, Martha (December 30, 2001). "Court rejects suit challenging Jubelirer's role". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. PG Publishing. Lawless, a Montgomery County lawmaker who switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in November [2001].