Has the US Senate and/or House ever been filled by members of more than 2 political parties at one time? If so when was the last time?
In the last 50 years or so I think both houses have been filled only by Democrats and Republicans. Other 3rd parties ran candidates but I am not directly remembering any victories.
For that matter I do know that long ago there were different major parties than there are now, but again did we always have a two-party-only House and Senate?
Closing question - is the “Tea Party” actually running any candidates as a 3rd party, or are all tea Party candidates seeking Replublican or Democratic nominations?
Yeah, I should have dug deeper. I just found that also. However I note that Lieberman was a Democrat originally but was elected as an Independent in 2006. Sanders has never been affiliated with Democrats or Republicans.
Any others? Wiki says 3rd party candidates hardly ever (but not never) win.
Wiki also says we’ve been virtually a 2-part system for over 100 years, implying we had a 3 party House and or Senate before that.
Joe Lieberman (CT) is an Independant Senator, although he caucuses with the Democrats. So was Bernie Sanders, who was in the House from 1991-2007.
In Colorado, Tom Tancredo is running on the American Constitution Party ticket, and while he is a Tea Party favorite, it is extremely unlikely that he will win. (This is for Governor, not the U.S. Congress.)
A few Independents have served in the house & senate over the years. Joe Leiberman, of CT, Bernie Sanders and Jim Jeffords of VT, all senators come to mind. Sanders also served in the house as an Independent. There must have been others, but none come immediately to mind. I can’t think of an actual “third party” candidate that has won national office in recent years although several libertarians and a couple of socialists hold state offices.
SS
Dean Barkley may have been the most recent official member of a third party (rather than an Independent) to serve, in 2002-2003. Appointed to fill a vacancy by Governor Jesse Ventura, he was a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. He was not elected, however.
Here’s a list of party divisions of US congresses. Most congresses have had at least a few independents.
The last third party candidate to be successfully elected to the US Congress was James L. Buckley, who served from 1971-1977.
The last time there was a significant number of third (and fourth) party members was in the 1930s and 1940s, who included members of the Progressive, Farmer’s, and Labor parties.
Barkley served only 59 days, and was never elected, as you noted. But Minnesota did elect 4 Senators from the Farmer-Labor party during the 1920’s & 1930’s. Later, that party merged with the Democrats to form Minnesota’s current Democratic-Farmer-Labor party.
There was a political shakeup in the 1850’s surrounding the collapse of the Whig Party and the formation of the Republican Party. This was also a period when the American Party (aka the Know Nothings) were still active. One result was that the 1856 election resulted in five different political parties sending members to the House of Representatives.
The “tea party” is not an entity but a grass-roots movement that is generally a conservative faction of the Republican party (although people who identify as tea party members do not necessarily have to be Republicans). There is as of yet no actual party and no formal organization, no official leadership. All the tea party candidates I have heard of are Republicans.
What does it mean to be “endorsed by the Tea Party movement”? Does the Tea Party movement have a national organization that endorses candidates, or does it mean that one is endorsed by Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck and a few other leaders of the movement? And who are the leaders of the Tea Party movement, after all?