Editor's note: This column is part of Changing Minds, a USA TODAY Opinion series. Ahead of the November midterm elections, we talked with people who changed their political beliefs after years of seeing things a certain way. We'll publish their stories over the next few days.
Don't look now, but the 2026 midterms are weeks away. Weeks. Two years of President Donald Trump's second term have sped by, and there has been so much news and partisan warfare that one group is easy to ignore.
Independent voters.
So we decided to include you, wonderful people, in a series of columns dedicated to the idea that people can, and sometimes do, change their minds. We visited a Texas border community, heard from a mother wrestling with her idea of what marriage
is, and even spoke with somebody who took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Check back here for those pieces.)
Here, though, we're showcasing a second round of responses we got in our Opinion Forum from asking independent voters how they feel.
Want to share your perspective? Weigh in at usatoday.com/forum or drop us a note at forum@usatoday.com.
I changed my mind on the president, but not the two-party system
I'm now an independent. I was a Republican until the bailout of 2008 or whenever. Although I'm an independent, I voted for President Donald Trump. I now think he should be impeached. But that doesn't mean I'm a Democrat. The Democratic Party is just as bad or worse in some ways than the Republican Party. It's sad that we say we have freedom and a choice. We don't. Rich, power-hungry person A or rich, power-hungry person B. I'm so sick of it. Every single congressman should be voted out.
Do Republicans and Democrats represent Americans? Well, they manipulate and divide their followers. They represent a minority of Americans but yet have all the power. I do believe a third party system is possible and desperately needed.
— Kevin Harbolt, Missouri
Independent voters are America's moderate middle
I identify as an independent voter because I don't feel like I belong in either party. I was a Republican from the time I signed up to vote, from 2007 to 2015. I worked in the Republican Party and believed I would be a part of the party for a long time. But in 2016, after then-Sen. Marco Rubio lost the presidential primary in Florida, I became an independent. I thought about becoming a Democrat, but I do not agree with all the policies of the Democratic Party and feel most at home in the moderate middle, with other like-minded independents.
Independents are shut out of primaries, which is where the majority of our congressional elections are decided. If independents are to have true representative voting power, then we need to have open primaries for all voters.
With the "spoiler effect," independents nowadays can make or break an election, but so often when they run for office they are seen as a "spoiler" to the traditional two-party system. If Americans are truly to vote their conscience, Americans need more options.
I believe the majority of Americans agree on more things than they disagree on, and the majority are moderates. It is the two-party system and the 24-hour entertainment news cycle that have pushed electoral politics to the extreme.
I believe reaching out to unaffiliated voters is the right approach and will bring the temperature of politics down. When the candidate only has to speak to their base, the most extreme candidate wins, but when a candidate must communicate with those whose views might differ slightly, they are encouraged to find common ground.
People are leaving the Democratic and Republican parties in droves because they do not feel properly represented. They are voting with their feet, telling us that they want another option because their options do not fit them anymore. I strongly believe a multiparty system would encourage greater dialogue and force representatives to work together for the will of the citizens over the dollar of the largest donor.
— Caroline Anderson, Florida
America's two-party system is long outdated
I am registered as an independent voter. In the past, I was a Democrat, then a Republican. I turned independent when I saw parallels between how bad the two parties are for the citizens.
Both sides consider us easy to manipulate. They label us "fence-riders." We are not. We dare to see what they do not. That both sides are too power-hungry. And that they make promises they don't plan to keep.
What needs to happen is that individual candidates need to be as transparent as possible. I don't care what party you are from; if your campaign views mesh with mine, then I will vote for you.
The two-party system is old and outdated. Quit dogmatically voting based on what party you are affiliated with and base your votes on the individual candidate and their views or campaign promises. Plus, their campaigns are based on "keywords," not ideas, principles or substance.
— Kavian Darkain, Pennsylvania
There are more moderates than MAGAs
I am a registered independent. I registered as a Republican in 1979. I changed to become a Democrat after the recession of 2008 and the rise of the Tea Party movement. I changed to independent around 2022. I believe that both parties are ruled by extremists, and that the only way to get back to a moderate government is to open primaries to all registered voters. Not just the two main parties.
Independents have too little influence due to closed primaries like in my state, Kentucky. But I believe that in time our influence will increase as more people register as independents.
It has been said that we need to just pick a party so we can participate in elections. I don’t agree with that opinion. Why should I settle for a political party that I believe caters to its extreme elements?
I think the Democratic Party is trying to appeal to nonaffiliated voters, but I don’t see the Republicans doing that. It’s MAGA or nothing. That isn’t a very effective strategy, because there are more moderates than MAGAs.
— Katherine Boswell, Kentucky
Independents aren't swing voters. We're our own faction
I became an independent voter shortly before the last election. I had been a lifelong Democrat previously. I am 56, and I voted a mixed ticket last election, voting for Kamala Harris for president. If I had to do it over again, I would now vote for Trump in that election.
I think it was, for me, the deception of the Democratic Party and the BBC editing of footage of Trump's speech on Jan. 6, 2021, which seems designed to mislead the populace.
I think increasingly, independent voters are becoming a third faction with their own specific ideology based upon honesty, authenticity, common sense and logic. And a rejection of identity politics. I think they need much more power.
I think people believe that independent voters are simply left- or right-wing-leaning people who reject labels. What I'm seeing now is a comprehensive third way forward that the American populist is starting to embrace.
The financial constraints that prevented parties from competing are largely disappearing as social media, artificial intelligence, video production and other tools make reaching the public much more about messaging than financing.
One of the biggest blocks has been registering a party's candidates in all 50 states, something the Libertarian Party has already done. Most independent voters tend to have libertarian leanings, as far as I can see. At the same time, most of them are not stalwart libertarian voters. But the Libertarian Party can easily be reformed. The other two parties cannot.
— David Levine, Oregon
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Our two-party system is broken. Independents like me know it | Your Turn
