Is the Democratic brand toxic? A growing number of Dems wonder if going ‘independent’ will help them win

Losing to a twice-impeached convicted felon has left a small, but growing, number of Democrats wondering if their party brand is so toxic that they should shed the label — particularly in battleground and red states.

Mike Duggan, the longtime Democratic mayor of Detroit, is pursuing an independent campaign for governor in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in his state. Democratic strategists are studying this year’s bid by independent Dan Osborn, who as a Senate candidate in Nebraska overperformed the top of the ticket, as a model to win the upper chamber. And a Joe Biden mega-fundraiser is floating a gubernatorial run in Florida on what he calls the “Capitalist Party” ticket.

The deliberations, some of which are taking place in private, reflect the extent to which Trump’s win has made the party unsure of what to do next. Few Democrats are dismissing Trump as a fluke anymore after he carried the popular vote and expanded his support among key parts of their base.

Democrats who have jumped ship are making the bet that voters are so frustrated with the existing political parties that they will reward them for shaking things up.

“I reached the conclusion that if you call yourself a Democrat, all the Republicans automatically line up against it. You call yourself a Republican, all the Democrats automatically line up against it,” Duggan said in an interview. “And I really don't think there's a path forward for this state if you don't get the reasonable folks in both parties to work together.”

A group of operatives at major Democratic media firms are in talks about creating a company that would help elect left-leaning independents, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was granted anonymity to talk about internal planning. The business would also back populist Democrats.

Independent candidates face enormous logistical challenges, however. They lack major parties to bolster them financially and structurally. Voters often worry that supporting them is a waste of a ballot, even as a growing number of Americans identify as independent themselves.

Still, some Democrats eye Osborn’s 14-point overperformance in Nebraska as proof that independent candidates who embrace economic populism can win back voters who are turned off by the Democratic Party.

A mechanic and former union leader, Osborn railed against big corporations during his campaign while also speaking positively about Trump’s border wall. He said on the trail that he wouldn’t caucus with either party, but even so, his victory would have helped Democrats by unseating the Republican incumbent, Deb Fischer. In fact, the Senate Democrats’ top super PAC quietly boosted Osborn.

With the Senate map in 2026 favoring the GOP — and many seats once held by Democrats looking out of reach for the foreseeable future — some Democrats are thinking about fielding more Osborns.

“Anyone looking at the Senate map, not just in 2026 but over the next six years and beyond, sees that we need a path to chipping into the Republican majority,” said a Democratic strategist who was granted anonymity to speak frankly. “And it doesn't necessarily mean electing Democrats. But it means changing what the denominator is that we need to get to a majority.”

Osborn, who has not ruled out another run in 2026, hopes more people run for office as independents. “That’s really what the country needs,” he told POLITICO.

John Morgan, the Florida-based Biden fundraiser considering a gubernatorial run, said he may launch a bid under a new party called the “Capitalist Party.” Morgan changed his registration from Democratic to independent a few years ago because he objected to the party’s left flank and how some describe themselves as “Democratic socialists.”

Morgan, who bankrolled an amendment in Florida to raise the minimum wage, said he would campaign as a “compassionate capitalist.” And Florida, he said, could be where a new third party germinates.

“I don’t know if Trump is a stable genius, but he’s a fucking genius,” Morgan said. “He tapped into something the Republicans never saw, which was anger and populism on that side.”

Some on the center-left have already abandoned the Democratic Party. In recent years, two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, switched their party registrations to independent after feuds with their party. Afterward, Manchin continued to caucus with Democrats, while Sinema said she didn’t, though she obtained her committee assignments through them. Both opted against running for reelection this year.

Sinema, who made the shift in 2022 after infuriating Democratic activists for opposing their efforts to eliminate the filibuster and other liberal priorities, called Duggan’s own switch “smart.”

Others see it as an opportunistic move that Duggan made to avoid competing in Democratic primary that is expected to be crowded.

“We're going to have some very strong candidates in the Democratic primary,” said Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. “I think what it speaks to is a mayor who has looked at the field and looked at the prospects going forward and made the calculation that his best path to victory is to not run in the Democratic primary.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an independent who caucuses with Democrats and ran twice for the party’s presidential nomination, recently floated an effort to back more candidates like himself. In an email to allies after Trump’s November victory, Sanders asked, “Should we be supporting Independent candidates who are prepared to take on both parties?"

Another independent who caucuses with Democrats, Maine Sen. Angus King, said the Senate map is evidence of just how far the Democratic Party has slipped with voters outside of coastal states and major urban centers. It’s a starkly different picture compared to when he took office nearly 12 years ago.

“When I came to the Senate, we had Democratic senators from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, two from Montana, Florida, Arkansas, Indiana and about four or five more,” King said, adding those states are now viewed as out of reach for today’s Democratic Party.

King said the 2026 midterms favor the GOP because Vice President Kamala Harris only carried one of the states held by Republicans who will be up for reelection. It happened to be Maine.

But, King cautioned, campaigning for office as an independent is no easy task. He abandoned the Democratic Party in 1993 when he ran for governor of Maine. He said he built support “coffee by coffee” during that bid.

“Running as an independent is a difficult job because you don't have a party apparatus,” he said. “I think there may come a time when there will be more people running as independents. But right now, the structure does not lend itself.”

Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.