New York City mayoral candidate and formal presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced Monday that he has changed his voter registration from “Democrat” to “Independent,” CBS reports. He had been a registered Democrat for 20 years.
Yang announced his decision in a blog post on Medium. He said he originally joined the Democratic Party in the 1990s to support of President Bill Clinton’s reelection bid, POLITICO reports.
“I’ve been a Democrat my entire adult life,” Yang wrote. “And yet, I’m confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing.”
Yang criticized America’s polarized political system. He called for changes to the electoral system like open primaries and ranked-choice voting, CBS reports.
“I believe I can reach people who are outside the system more effectively. I feel more … independent,” he wrote. “Also, on a personal level, I’ll admit there has always been something of an odd fit between me and the Democratic Party. I’m not very ideological. I’m practical.”
“Making partisan arguments – particularly expressing what I often see as performative sentiment – is sometimes uncomfortable for me,” he added. “I often think, ‘Okay, what can we actually do to solve the problem?’ I’m pretty sure there are others who feel the same way I do.”
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