Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is considered the most bipartisan senator, according to a congressional scorecard, even as he faces an uncertain political future with a tough Senate challenger in 2024.
Manchin, who has not publicly stated his election plans for next year, is the highest-ranked senator on the Common Ground Scorecard, and he is No. 15 in Congress overall. Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Dean Phillips (D-MN) were tied at No. 1 for the entire Congress. Manchin was followed by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on the Senate list.
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The West Virginia senator has long been praised for his bipartisan record, having topped a different list of bipartisan members of Congress for at least three years. He also led a bipartisan delegation to Ukraine and Poland earlier this year, and he has sponsored many bipartisan pieces of legislation over his storied career. Manchin has also teased leaving the Democratic Party recently, but he would set himself as an independent instead of switching to a Republican.
“I would think very seriously about that. I’ve been thinking about that for quite some time. I haven’t made any decisions,” Manchin told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval earlier this month.
“I want to make sure that my voice is truly an independent voice. The brand has become so bad — the D brand and R brand. In West Virginia, the D brand because it’s [the] national brand. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia; it’s the Democrats in Washington.”
Manchin has not revealed what his plans are for the 2024 election cycle, but he said he has not ruled out either another Senate bid against popular Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) or a long-shot bid for the White House as part of the No Labels party. No Labels aims to unite a liberal and a conservative in a joint bid for the Oval Office.
The ranking also comes as the senator clashes with President Joe Biden and his administration over the Inflation Reduction Act, which he helped create, on its one-year anniversary. However, his attacks center on the more progressive aspects of the wide-ranging climate law. The legislation was a more limited deal than the president’s “Build Back Better” plan, which Manchin crossed party lines to block. He has also repeatedly opposed efforts to eliminate the filibuster, and he has blocked proposed White House appointees.
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Manchin has held his position in the Senate since 2010, defeating multiple Republican challengers. However, the state has become more conservative over the years. Republican strategists see West Virginia as a solid pickup opportunity this cycle, and the senior senator faces a strong fight in a state that former President Donald Trump carried with 68% of the vote in 2016.
If Manchin does become an independent, he will join Sinema, who announced she was leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent in December 2022, and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME), who caucus with Democrats.
