The independent surge in 2026 wasn't only about marquee Senate races. Down the ballot, in state legislatures, city councils, school boards, and mayor's offices, independent and nonpartisan candidates ran, and often won, in numbers that outpaced recent cycles. South Dakota fielded its highest number of independent legislative candidates in recent memory. Maine saw its highest number of unenrolled legislative candidates in a decade. And nationally, hundreds of state legislative races had no Democratic or Republican candidate on the ballot at all. This is where independents already have real power, even in cycles where their highest-profile candidates fall short.
South Dakota's 2026 legislative races included 11 independent candidates, the highest number in recent memory, running alongside independent U.S. Senate candidate Brian Bengs. In Maine, 26 unenrolled candidates sought seats in the state Legislature, 19 for the House and seven for the Senate, the most in a decade, in a state where nearly a third of voters are registered unenrolled. Separately, Ballotpedia found that as of an April 2026 filing-deadline check, 353 state legislative races had no Democratic candidate and 319 had no Republican candidate, out of the 88 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2026.
Source: South Dakota Searchlight, via States Newsroom (October 2026); States Newsroom, Maine (2026); Ballotpedia (2026).
GoodParty.org, which tracks and supports independent and nonpartisan candidates nationally, counted more than 13,000 independent and nonpartisan candidates it worked with who won election in 2025, concentrated almost entirely in local races: 3,525 city council seats, 3,414 school board seats, 927 mayor's offices, and hundreds more town council and township positions. Minnesota, Illinois, Washington, Oregon, and Iowa topped the list of states with the most independent local winners that cycle. A separate analysis in Indiana found independent candidates won 52% of their local races over the two most recent election cycles, ahead of Democratic candidates' 35% win rate in the same races, though still behind Republican candidates' 61%.
Source: GoodParty.org, 2025 election analysis; Independent Indiana, via 95.3 MNC (2026).
Do independent candidates actually win elections?
Yes, most often at the local level. GoodParty.org counted more than 13,000 independent and nonpartisan candidates who won local office nationally in 2025 alone, led by city council and school board seats.
Which states had the most independent candidates running for state legislature in 2026?
South Dakota and Maine both saw multi-year highs, with South Dakota fielding 11 independent legislative candidates and Maine fielding 26 unenrolled candidates, the most in a decade for each state.
Why don't independent candidates win federal races as often as local ones?
Name recognition, fundraising, and ballot access all favor the two major parties more heavily the higher up the ballot a race sits. Local races are often nonpartisan by design and decided on name recognition within a community, which levels the playing field more than a statewide or national race does.
Does the Independent Center recruit or endorse independent candidates?
No. The Independent Center's research tracks how independent candidates are performing across every level of the ballot; it does not recruit, endorse, or fund individual candidates.
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