A growing number of candidates are seeking federal office without the backing of either major party, as more Americans identify as political independents heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
A Newsweek analysis of independent congressional candidate lists found 217 entries across U.S. House and Senate races in the 2026 cycle: 170 for the House and 47 Senate hopefuls.
When multiple candidates running in the same House district or Senate state are combined, the lists cover 153 distinct contests—129 House districts or at-large seats and 24 Senate races. The largest concentrations appear in Texas, Illinois, New York, California, Washington and Virginia.
In Virginia there is no party registration, but you can only vote in one or the other on primary day…
When there is no one candidate that stands out on the Democrat side, I’ll usually pull a Republican primary ballot and vote for the most left leaning republican of the bunch… They never win, but anything to undermine their standing as shoe-in is better than nothing.