New York: Democratic leaders, desperate to compete in red states where their party’s brand is toxic, are trying something new this midterm season: not endorsing Democrats.In states such as Nebraska and Alaska, Democratic officials are, in some cases, ignoring their own party’s candidates while encouraging, or openly campaigning for, independent candidates they hope can outperform the Democratic label. The Democratic National Committee and some of its allies in Washington are quietly supporting the new strategy.Meanwhile, some independent candidates are chatting in a group text about their approach as they chart a course that could shake up Congress, which is plagued by partisan gridlock.Nebraska Democrats this week chose Cindy Burbank, a candidate for U.S. Senate, who said a key priority of the campaign is to ensure no Democrat gets involved in the election to pull an endorsement from independent Dan Osborne. According to state Democratic Chairwoman Jane Kleeb, Burbank reiterated her plans to drop out in the coming weeks during a private conversation with a party official shortly after the election closed.Democratic leaders believe Osborn, who came within 7 percentage points of winning a Senate seat in 2024, has the best chance to defeat Republican Senator Pete Ricketts.Democrats’ tilt toward independents is part of a deliberate strategy in some places, and closer to a wink and a nod in others, covering a handful of high-profile Senate and House and even statehouse contests. Independent Senate candidates are also running in states like Idaho, South Dakota and Montana, where Democratic leadership is not yet ready to fully embrace independent candidates, although many see them as the best chance for Democrats to fend off Republicans this fall.“For some states, and Nebraska is one of them, where Democrats are 32 percent of the electorate, this is a long-term strategy for us,” said Klebb, who also serves as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee.Kleeb said his state party is supporting independent candidates for at least four state legislative seats in addition to the U.S. Senate: “We have to build a coalition with independents to win elections so we can do a good job for the people. Duration.”It appears that some of the national political machinery of the Democratic Party has become involved.The Democrats’ fundraising site, ActBlue, like popular Democratic-allied website builders, serves some independent candidates. At the same time, some party campaign committees in Washington quietly provide logistical support in some cases, while avoiding public criticism of independent candidates even in some races where there is a Democratic nominee.“The brand of the Democratic Party is terrible right now,” said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. “The combination of the brand problem and the existential nature of the threat facing our country requires us to have a bigger tent and look for candidates who can win.”

Risk to the Democratic Party

Some Democratic donors, strategists and party leaders in other states have privately pushed back, insisting that Democrats should not look to their own candidates for short-term political gain. They want Democratic officials on the ground in Washington and red states to work harder to make the Democratic brand more attractive — even if it takes several more years to be competitive.“What will the independents do for the Democratic Party if they win?”. asked Democratic strategist Mike Ceraso, who sees the shift toward independents in some cases as an effort to overshadow the Democrats. “We are a party of truth, honesty and integrity, but we are playing these stupid political games?”And there is no guarantee that, if elected, independent candidates will support all of the Democrats’ policy priorities or even the Democratic leadership in Congress.In Idaho, independent Senate candidate Todd Achilles, an Army veteran and former Democratic state legislator, said he would not compromise with either party if elected. He described his politics as “straight down the middle” and said he believed in individual liberty.“Idahoans should be able to live how they want,” he said. But the Democratic Party was a bad fit because it “has abandoned small red states like Idaho.”On his list of problems with the Democrats is that the party made a big mistake by initially running Joe Biden for president again in 2024. But he also said Trump, whom Idaho voters support by 36 points in 2024, is “losing its luster.”Achilles said he and other military veterans running for Senate as independents chat in the text series and are “pretty much on the same page.” He says the group wants to see a “railroad,” including term and age limits and campaign finance reform.“The priority is to get Congress back into action,” he said. “We have to break the grip of the two-party system.”

‘I will never vote for a Democrat’

In South Dakota, Navy and Air Force veteran Brian Bennings has launched an independent bid to defeat Republican incumbent Senator Mike Rounds, who is seeking a third term this fall.Bengins ran as a Democrat against Senate Majority Leader John Thune four years ago and lost by 43 points.A lifelong independent, he said this time when he tried to contest elections with the party’s organizational support but without any label, he was rejected by the party. Nevertheless, he insists that he can win even without the party’s formal support.He says a key lesson from his 2022 campaign was how difficult it was to break out of the Democratic Party label.Voters will immediately ask, “What are you?” He remembered.“When you say, ‘I’m a lifelong independent running as a Democrat,'” Bengs said, the reaction was instant. “‘I will never vote for a Democrat.’ And that was it,” he said.“So that takeaway made me nervous about running in any party system again, because it was just a soul-sucking experience.”In Alaska, some Democrats believe commercial fisherman Bill Hill, a retired school superintendent, may represent their best hope at defeating first-term Republican Representative Nick Begich for the state’s only House seat.Hill, a lifelong independent, raised more than $780,000 in the first three months of the year and bested Democrat Matt Schultz, a pastor, who raised $578,000.The state Democratic Party declined to endorse Schultz at its recent convention, which Hill also attended. The campaign committee of House Democrats in Washington has also so far declined to promote Schultz’s candidacy. Meanwhile, Hill is gathering support from the local union.Hill’s message to voters, she said, is the same for Republicans, Democrats and independents: “You need to be pragmatic about who you support this election cycle, because at the end of the day, we need to flip the House seat in Alaska.”A spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized independents such as Osborn, Bengs, Achilles and Seth Bodnar running in Montana as “fake independents who will pursue liberal Democratic policies in the Senate.”Currently, there are two independents in the Senate: Maine Senator Angus King and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The caucus of both is with the Democrats.In an interview, Hill said she was unlikely to form a coalition with Republicans in Washington if elected, but she would not commit to joining the Democrats. He was reluctant to criticize the Democratic Party or Trump.Hill acknowledged the challenge of running for Congress as an independent, but said it also had its advantages.“There is freedom there,” he said. “I can really represent the working people of Alaska.”