California Rep. Kevin Kiley announced Monday that he is immediately switching his party affiliation from Republican to independent after deciding last week to run for reelection without ties to any major political party, in a newly drawn district.
Mr. Kiley’s decision comes amid his increasing frustration over partisan politics. He pointed to “the redistricting war and the gerrymandering epidemic” in his state and across the country as “the ultimate manifestation of that.”
California’s new congressional map, a change promoted by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, could enable House Democrats to gain as many as five seats.
The congressman told reporters Monday that he asked the House clerk to officially change his party registration in Congress to independent. The switch means there are now 217 Republicans, 214 Democrats, three vacancies and one independent.
“I will be the sole independent member of the House of Representatives,” he said. “I think that this really reflects the way that I have always approached my role as a representative. I’ve always said I’ll be an independent voice for our district. I’ll always put the district that I represent first. I’ll always answer to my constituents and not party leaders.”
Mr. Kiley said he will continue to caucus with Republicans through at least the end of this term so he can maintain his committee assignments.
His current district was carved up as part of the new California map and he struggled to decide which district to run in. He ultimately filed for reelection last week as “no party preference” to run in California’s new 6th District, which was drawn to favor Democrats.
“If I had wanted to sort of take the easy way — or what probably most political strategists would have recommended — I would have actually tried to exploit the gerrymander by going and running in one of these new safe Republican districts,” Mr. Kiley said. “My current district overlaps with one of them, which would have been a pretty clear path to a safe seat. … But that didn’t strike me as the right thing to do. That struck me as making things worse, and not better.”
Mr. Kiley is the first House member to serve as an independent since former Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who likewise entered Congress as a Republican before deciding to switch his affiliation to independent in 2019. Mr. Amash served the remainder of his term but did not run for reelection in 2020.
The Senate has two independents, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Maine Sen. Angus King. Both caucus with the Democrats.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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