# More Than 2 Parties in US Senate or House? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925 "2010-09-16T02:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/1 "2010-09-16T02:01:11Z")
I plead ignorance of US history… 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? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/2 "2010-09-16T02:21:56Z")
There are currently two Senators that don’t belong to the Democratic or Republican parties: Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/3 "2010-09-16T02:26:25Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:2, topic:553925”] There are currently two Senators that don’t belong to the Democratic or Republican parties: Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/4 "2010-09-16T02:26:32Z")
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.) ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/5 "2010-09-16T02:29:57Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/6 "2010-09-16T02:42:40Z")
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.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Party_of_Minnesota) He was not elected, however. [Here’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_divisions_of_United_States_Congresses) 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/7 "2010-09-16T02:58:19Z")
Wiki claims: > [@](#): > > Third party officeholders in the U.S. are rare. Since the end of Reconstruction, there have a total of 31 U.S. Senators, 111 Representatives, and 22 Governors that weren’t affiliated with a major party. Sounds about right. > **[Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions](https://www.answers.com/redirectSearch?query=political-parties-in-congress)** > > Answers is the place to go to get the answers you need and to ask the questions you want > [@](#): > > Although a two-party system has prevailed through most of American history, many third parties have appeared and have elected members to Congress. Third parties generally have had more success in winning election in smaller House districts than in statewide Senate races. In the 19th century, the Anti-Masonic, Nullifiers, American (Know-Nothing), Free Soil, States’ Rightists, Unionists, Constitutional Union, Liberal Republican, National (Greenback), People’s (Populist), and Silver Republican parties all sent members to Congress. Third parties in the 20th century have included the Socialist, Progressive (Bull Moose), Prohibition, and Conservative parties. For instance, the 31st congress had 9 Free Soilers and 1 Know-Nothing in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/8 "2010-09-16T03:57:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > 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.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Party_of_Minnesota) He was not elected, however. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/9 "2010-09-16T04:08:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/10 "2010-09-16T04:41:06Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/11 "2010-09-16T05:23:32Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > All the tea party candidates I have heard of are Republicans. [Walt Minnick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Minnick) is a Democrat who’s been endorsed by the Tea Party movement. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/12 "2010-09-16T05:24:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. I think you mean 1858: > **[1858–59 United States House of Representatives elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1858)** > > James Orr > Democratic > William Pennington > Republican > The 1858–59 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 7, 1858, and December 1, 1859. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. 238 representatives were elected in the new state of Oregon, the pending new state of Kansas, and the other 32 states before the first session of the 36th United States Congress convened on December 5, 1859. They were... According to wiki’s figures, 1856 had a handful of Know Nothings and one independent: > **[1856–57 United States House of Representatives elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1856)** > > Nathaniel Banks > Know Nothing > James Orr > Democratic > The 1856–57 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 4, 1856, and November 4, 1857. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. 236 representatives were elected in 31 states and the pending new state of Minnesota before the first session of the 35th United States Congress convened on December 7, 1857. > The elections briefly returned a semblance... The 1830s had congresses with a fair number of Anti-Masonic party members. 1832 had a mess of them , and some Nullifiers: > **[1832–33 United States House of Representatives elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1832)** > > Andrew Stevenson > Jacksonian > Andrew Stevenson > Jacksonian > The 1832–33 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 2, 1832, and October 7, 1833. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 23rd United States Congress convened on December 2, 1833. They were held concurrently with the 1832 presidential election, in which Democrat\[c\] Andrew Jackson was reelected. The cong... ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/13 "2010-09-16T17:01:21Z")
Yes. More interesting is that we once had a coalition government in the House (the 34th Session) ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-than-2-parties-in-us-senate-or-house/553925/14 "2010-09-16T18:36:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Walt Minnick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Minnick) is a Democrat who’s been endorsed by the Tea Party movement. 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?