Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has officially left the democratic party.
Yang announced in a blog post published Monday that he will register to become an independent, something he called a “strangely emotional experience.”
He recalled registering with the party at the ripe age of 20 back in 1995, amid President Clinton’s push for reelection, Fox News reports.
“Throughout my twenties I remained a staunch democrat, though like many others I was drawn primarily to national races,” Yang wrote. “I co-hosted a small fundraiser for John Kerry’s campaign at a bar when I was 29 - I think we raised maybe $3,000. I thrilled to Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 and, to a lesser extent, his re-election in 2012.”
He even mentioned donating to Bernie Sanders’ campaign in 2016, but then “voted for Hillary Clinton against Trump.”
Yang recalled his campaigning as a democrat and for Biden, as well as the democrat friends he made around the country and on stage as a primary opponent, noting he has been a democrat his “entire adult life.”
“And yet, I’m confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing,” he wrote.
He encouraged his supporters not to change their affiliation to be an independent as he did, claiming that it would “disenfranchise” someone if they “live in 83% of the country that is very blue or very red.”
Noting a “shift” in his “mindset,” Yang said that he “can be even more honest about both the system and the people in it” after breaking up with the democratic party.
“Breaking up with the Democratic Party feels like the right thing to do because I believe I can have a greater impact this way,” he wrote.
