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Third-party members of state legislatures of the United States

This is a list of persons who have served as members of U.S. state legislatures while enrolled in third parties. For purposes of this list, a third party is defined as any party other than the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. This list spans the period from 1856 to the present. The time period listed beside each elected official's name is the time period when that elected official has served as a state legislator while enrolled as a member of a third party. State legislators who are independent (in other words, not enrolled in a political party) are not included in this list.

Alabama

Alabama Senate

Alabama House of Representatives

  • Y. L. Burton (1930–1934). Elected as a Jeffersonian in 1930.
  • J. W. Hollingsworth (1930–1934). Elected as a Jeffersonian in 1930 and was re-elected as a Democrat in 1934.
  • J. W. Jordan (1930–1934). Elected as a Jeffersonian in 1930, and unsuccessfully ran for re-election in 1934 as a Democrat.
  • Rep. Mills (1902–1906). Elected as a Populist in 1902.
  • Thomas Reed (1970–1974). First elected as a member of the NDPA in 1970, later re-elected as a Democrat.
  • W. E. Thomas (1914–1918). Elected as a "Bull Moose" Progressive in 1914 and did not stand for re-election.

Alaska

Alaska House of Representatives

  • Ken Fanning (1980–1982). The second Libertarian elected to partisan office in the United States, he served one term in the Alaska House of Representatives.
  • Andre Marrou (1984–1986). Elected as a Libertarian for one term. He was Ron Paul's running mate in 1988 and the Libertarian nominee for president in 1992.
  • Dick Randolph (1978–1982). Previously elected as a Republican, Randolph switched parties and became the first Libertarian elected to a partisan office in the United States in 1978. Randolph ran as the Libertarian nominee for governor in 1982.

Arkansas

Arkansas House of Representatives

  • Richard Carroll (2009–2011). Initially elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives as a Green in 2008, he switched to the Democratic Party in 2009.
  • Fred Smith (2013–2015). Smith was originally elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2010, but was forced to give up his seat after a conviction. The conviction was expunged, but the Democrats refused to have him as their candidate in 2012. He ran for re-election as a Green in 2013 and won.

California

California State Assembly

  • Audie Bock (1999–2000). Bock was elected to the California State Assembly as a Green in a special election.

Connecticut

Connecticut State Senate

  • Edwin Gomes (2015–2019). Gomes, a former Democratic member of the Connecticut Senate, was elected to the office for a second time as a member of the Working Families Party. He is the first member of the Working Families Party to win a legislative seat outside of New York and one of the first to win a seat without electoral fusion. Gomes made efforts to regain the Democratic Party's backing in the 2016 primary elections.

Maine

Maine House of Representatives

Maryland

Maryland House of Delegates

Michigan

Michigan Senate

Michigan House of Representatives

Montana

Montana House of Representatives

Nebraska

Nebraska Legislature

(Note: While Nebraska's unicameral legislature is nominally nonpartisan, most members belong to and are supported by one of the two major political parties.)

Nevada

Nevada State Assembly

New Hampshire

New Hampshire House of Representatives

  • Max Abramson (2014–2022). Abramson has held office as a Republican and a Libertarian.
  • Andy Borsa. Elected in 1992 as a Libertarian.
  • Caleb Q. Dyer (2016–2018). Elected in 2016 as a Republican. He switched his party affiliation to Libertarian in 2017.
  • Don Gorman (1992–2000). Elected in 1992 as a Libertarian. He ran for the Libertarian presidential nomination in 2000, losing to Harry Browne.
  • Jim McClarin (1994–1996). Elected as a Libertarian.
  • Brandon Phinney (2016–2018). Libertarian member since 2017.
  • Finlay Rothhaus (1991–1995). Originally a member of the Reform Party, Rothhaus joined the Libertarian Party in 1991.
  • Joseph Stallcop (2016–2018). Elected in 2016, he became a Libertarian in 2017.
  • Steve Vaillancourt (1996–2002, 2006–2014). Originally elected as a Democrat, he was re-elected on the Libertarian ticket in 2000 before choosing to retire. He ran again for state house in 2006 as a Republican.
  • Calvin Warburton (1992–1995). Elected as a Libertarian.

New Jersey

New Jersey General Assembly

  • Matt Ahearn (2002–2004). Elected as a Democrat. He switched his party affiliation to Green following dissatisfaction with the Democrats for corruption.

New York

New York State Assembly

  • Timothy P. Gordon (2007–2010). Served two terms in the Assembly as a member of the Independence Party.
  • Diana Richardson (2015–2022). Was elected as a member of the Working Families Party in a 2015 special election in which no Democratic candidate was on the ballot. She was the first member of the New York Working Families Party to be elected only on the Working Families ballot line.
  • Fred Thiele (2009–2022). Thiele was originally elected to the Assembly as a member of the Republican Party, but on October 1, 2009 switched to the Independence Party of New York and caucused with the Democrats. In 2022, Thiele officially switched to the Democratic Party, after the Independence Party of New York lost its status as an official political party in New York State.
  • Angela Wozniak (2015–2016). A member of the Conservative Party, Wozniak was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2014. She caucused with the Republicans.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island House of Representatives

Utah

Utah State Senate

  • Emily Buss (2025–present). A member of the Forward Party, she won a poll held by the party to choose a successor for outgoing Forward senator Daniel Thatcher.
  • Daniel Thatcher (2011–2025). Elected as a Republican. Served as a Republican until March 2025, when he registered with the Forward Party.
  • Mark B. Madsen (2005–2017). Chose in July 2016 to be a Libertarian for the remainder of his final term in the Utah Senate.

Vermont

Vermont Senate

  • Christopher Pearson (2006–2009; 2011–2017). Progressive member who served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 2009 to 2006 and 2011 to 2017 and the Vermont Senate from 2017 to 2023 .
  • Tim Ashe (2009–2021). A Progressive member who ran with the support of the Democratic and Progressive parties through electoral fusion.
  • Anthony Pollina (2011–2023). A Progressive member who ran with the support of the Democratic and Progressive parties through electoral fusion.
  • David Zuckerman (1997–2011; 2013–2017). A Progressive member who ran with the support of the Democratic and Progressive parties through electoral fusion. Zuckerman served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1997 to 2011 and in the Vermont Senate from 2013 to 2017. As Progressive/Democrat, he was sworn in as lieutenant governor on January 5, 2017.

Vermont House of Representatives

  • Terry Bouricius (1991–2001). Served as a Progressive member from 1991 to 2001.
  • Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (2014–2021). Progressive member representing Rutland-Bennington.
  • Dean Corren (1993–2001). Served as a Progressive member from 1992 to 2000. He was the nominee of both the Progressive Party and the Democratic Party for lieutenant governor in 2014.
  • Susan Davis. Progressive member representing Orange-1.
  • Winston Dowland (2003–2007). Served as a Progressive member from 2003 to 2007.
  • Carina Driscoll (2001–2003). Served as a Progressive member. She is the step-daughter of Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
  • Sarah Edwards (2003–2013). Served as a Progressive member from 2003 to 2013.
  • Diana Gonzalez (2014–2021). Progressive member representing Chittenden-6-7.
  • Sandy Haas (2005–present). Progressive member representing Windsor-Rutland.
  • Bob Kiss (2001–2006). Progressive member representing Chittenden-3-4 from 2001 to 2006. He later ran for Senate as an Independent, finishing eighth of fourteen candidates running for six seats.
  • Dexter Randall. Served as a Progressive.
  • Neil Randall. Served as a Libertarian from 1998 to 2002.
  • Tom Smith. Served as a Progressive member.

Wyoming

Wyoming House of Representatives

References