The following are members of the United States House of Representatives who switched parties while serving in Congress.
Representative | State | District | Date | Congress | Old party | New party | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Galusha A. Grow | Pennsylvania | 14th | February–June 1856 | 34th | Democratic | Republican | He switched parties in the wake of President Pierce's signing of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. |
John J. O'Connor | New York | 16th | October 24, 1938 | 75th | Democratic | Republican | Lost Democratic renomination, defeated for re-election as a Republican. |
Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. | New York | 20th | January 3, 1951 | 82nd | Liberal | Democratic | Roosevelt was re-elected as a Democrat. |
Albert Watson | South Carolina | 2nd | February–June 1965 | 90th | Democratic | Republican | Watson resigned his seat as a Democrat on February 1, 1965, and then won a special election as a Republican on June 15, 1965. |
Ogden Reid | New York | 26th | March 22, 1972 | 92nd | Republican | Democratic | |
Donald W. Riegle | Michigan | 7th | February 27, 1973 | 93rd | Republican | Democratic | |
John Jarman | Oklahoma | 5th | January 24, 1975 | 94th | Democratic | Republican | |
Eugene Atkinson | Pennsylvania | 25th | October 14, 1981 | 97th | Democratic | Republican | |
Bob Stump | Arizona | 3rd | July 1982 | 97th | Democratic | Republican | |
Phil Gramm | Texas | 6th | January/February 1983 | 98th | Democratic | Republican | Gramm resigned his seat as a Democrat on January 5, 1983, and then won a special election as a Republican on February 12, 1983. |
Andy Ireland | Florida | 10th | July 5, 1984 | 98th | Democratic | Republican | |
William Carney | New York | 1st | October 7, 1985 | 99th | Conservative | Republican | |
James W. Grant | Florida | 2nd | February 21, 1989 | 101st | Democratic | Republican | |
Tommy F. Robinson | Arkansas | 2nd | July 28, 1989 | 101st | Democratic | Republican | |
Nathan Deal | Georgia | 9th | April 10, 1995 | 104th | Democratic | Republican | |
Greg Laughlin | Texas | 14th | June 26, 1995 | 104th | Democratic | Republican | |
Billy Tauzin | Louisiana | 3rd | August 8, 1995 | 104th | Democratic | Republican | |
Michael Parker | Mississippi | 4th | November 10, 1995 | 104th | Democratic | Republican | |
Jo Ann Emerson | Missouri | 8th | January 3, 1997 | 105th | Republican | Independent | Emerson was re-elected to a full term as an independent after running under that designation to comply with Missouri's electoral law. |
January 8, 1997 | Independent | Republican | |||||
Michael Forbes | New York | 1st | July 17, 1999 | 106th | Republican | Democratic | |
Virgil Goode | Virginia | 5th | January 27, 2000 | 106th | Democratic | Independent | |
Matthew G. Martinez | California | 31st | July 27, 2000 | 106th | Democratic | Republican | |
Virgil Goode | Virginia | 5th | August 1, 2002 | 107th | Independent | Republican | |
Ralph Hall | Texas | 4th | January 5, 2004 | 108th | Democratic | Republican | |
Rodney Alexander | Louisiana | 5th | August 9, 2004 | 108th | Democratic | Republican | |
Parker Griffith | Alabama | 5th | December 22, 2009 | 111th | Democratic | Republican | |
Justin Amash | Michigan | 3rd | July 4, 2019 | 116th | Republican | Independent | Amash became an independent on July 4, 2019, and then a Libertarian on April 29, 2020. [1] |
April 29, 2020 | Independent | Libertarian | |||||
Jeff Van Drew | New Jersey | 2nd | December 19, 2019 | 116th | Democratic | Republican | Van Drew switched parties in the wake of the first impeachment of Donald Trump, which he opposed. |
Paul Mitchell | Michigan | 10th | December 14, 2020 | 116th | Republican | Independent | |
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell is an American politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and was a United States Senator from Colorado from 1993 to 2005. He serves as one of 44 members of the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe. During his time in office, he was the only Native American serving in Congress. He was the last Native American elected to the U.S. Senate until the 2022 election of Cherokee Markwayne Mullin.
The 2004 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 2, 2004, to elect all 435 seats of the chamber. It coincided with the re-election of President George W. Bush as well as many Senate elections and gubernatorial elections. Prior to the election in the 108th Congress, Republicans held 227 seats, Democrats held 205, with two Republican vacancies and one independent. As a result of this election, the 109th Congress began composed of 232 Republicans, 201 Democrats, one independent, and one vacancy.
James William "Bill" Grant is an American banker and former politician from Madison, Florida. From 1987 to 1991, he served two terms in the United States House of Representatives.
Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. is an American politician, author, and businessman from Michigan. He served for five terms as a Representative and for three terms as a Senator in the U.S. Congress.
Gregory Haines Laughlin is a politician from Texas. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives.
The 1974 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives on November 5, 1974, to elect members to serve in the 94th United States Congress. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had forced President Richard Nixon to resign in favor of Gerald Ford. This scandal, along with high inflation, allowed the Democrats to make large gains in the midterm elections, taking 48 seats from the Republicans, and increasing their majority above the two-thirds mark. Altogether, there were 93 freshmen representatives in the 94th Congress when it convened on January 3, 1975. Those elected to office that year later came to be known collectively as "Watergate Babies." The gain of 49 Democratic seats was the largest pickup by the party since 1958. Only four Democratic incumbents lost their seats.
Eugene Vincent Atkinson was an American politician who, from 1979 to 1983, served two-terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Party switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.
Matthew Gilbert "Marty" Martínez was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative from California's 30th congressional district from 1982 to 1993 and California's 31st congressional district from 1993 to 2001, both as a member of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Martínez switched parties to become a Republican after being defeated in a 2000 primary.
The 1792–93 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 27, 1792, and September 6, 1793. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 3rd United States Congress convened on December 2, 1793. With the addition of the new state of Kentucky's representatives, and the congressional reapportionment based on the 1790 United States census, the size of the House increased to 105 seats.
The 1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 27, 1790, and October 11, 1791. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before or after the first session of the 2nd United States Congress convened on October 24, 1791. This was the first midterm election cycle, which took place in the middle of President George Washington's first term. The size of the House increased to 67 seats after the new state of Vermont elected its first representatives.
Jefferson H. Van Drew is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district since 2019. Formerly a Democrat, he has been a member of the Republican Party since 2020.
Andrew Poysell Ireland was an American banker and politician from Florida. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993. He served eight terms, first as a Democrat, then as a Republican after switching parties in 1984.
The 2nd congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in East Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Tim Burchett since January 2019. Although the district has taken many forms over the years, it has been centered on Knoxville since 1853. During the American Civil War era, the area was represented in Congress by Horace Maynard. Maynard switched parties many times but was pro-U.S. and did not resign from Congress when Tennessee seceded. Maynard entered Congress in 1857 but did not leave entirely until 1875.
This is an incomplete list of lists pertaining to the United States Congress.