McConaughey's 'Independent Counts' Video Makes the Case for Electing Independents. Both Parties Have Their Doubts

The video runs about six minutes. As of 5:49 a.m. ET Monday, X's public metrics showed:

• 3,383,540 impressions
• 10,987 likes
• 2,535 replies
• 1,258 reposts
• 777 quote posts

Mediaite called it a "rousing call for political independence."

What he says. McConaughey opens by taking on a familiar line: "So they've been telling us for years that an independent vote is a wasted vote." He says he is not endorsing a candidate or a party. "I am here endorsing two things," he says, "fairness and reality."

His central claim: "The number one political identity in America today is not Republican. It is not Democrat. It is independent." Independents belong in the race, he argues, "not as a protest, not as a spoiler, but as a real and potential winner on the ballot."

He also argues that the system "has never been more lopsided." He says that "in 2024, 87% of the US House seats were effectively decided in party primaries by just 7% of eligible voters." That figure matches a 2024 analysis by the Unite America Institute, which counted 380 House seats it said had been effectively decided by 18.1 million voters.

McConaughey acknowledges that most independents still vote for one party or the other: "and they do," he says. His pitch is about leverage. In a closely divided Congress, he argues, "three to five true independents, ones who don't caucus with either side," would be "the majority maker. Nothing passes without them." He compares independents to "the toll booth between an idea and a law," saying every bill "has to stop at that booth and answer one question. Does this make sense to the middle?"

The Manchin connection. McConaughey points to a new group: "This summer, former Senator Joe Manchin and his daughter, Heather, launched the Independent Leadership Council, built to recruit, fund, and back true independent candidates for Congress." He adds, "Again, I am not endorsing an organization."

The council is real. Joe and Heather Manchin launched it in July, NPR reported. It combines her Americans Together group with the Independent Center, a nonprofit that studies independent voters. "This is not about a third party," Heather Manchin told NPR. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who later became an independent, told CNN, "We're not trying to start another party."

The council and its PAC say they work only with candidates who pledge "to not caucus with either major party," according to an ILC press release. The group says it has raised more than $10 million. Its endorsements so far:

• Rep. Kevin Kiley, a former Republican running as an independent in California's 6th District.
• Seth Bodnar, the independent Senate candidate in Montana (Montana Public Radio).

McConaughey closes the video by urging viewers to "look at your ballot, study up." His goal, he says, is "not a third party to replace the other two, no. A permanent check to keep them both honest."

The numbers behind the argument.

• Gallup: In Gallup's most recent annual figures, published Jan. 12, 2026, a record 45% of U.S. adults identified as independents in 2025. That compares with 27% each for Democrats and Republicans. Gallup found most independents lean toward a party. Of the 45%, 20% of all adults leaned Democratic, 15% leaned Republican and 10% did not lean either way. Counting leaners, 47% identified with or leaned toward the Democrats and 42% toward the Republicans.
• Pew: Pew Research Center found that 81% of independents lean toward one of the two parties. Independents who lean toward a party are "in general agreement" with that party's identifiers on most issues. Leaners were also less likely to vote. After the 2018 midterms, 48% of Democratic-leaning independents said they voted, compared with 59% of Democrats. The figures were 54% of Republican leaners and 61% of Republicans. About a third of independents who don't lean toward a party said they voted.
• Getting on the ballot: It is harder for independents. Ballotpedia lists a 13,327-signature requirement for unaffiliated U.S. Senate candidates in Montana this year, and no signature requirement for ballot-qualified party candidates. Bodnar submitted about 30,000, the Daily Montanan reported. In Wyoming, an independent running statewide for federal office needed signatures from 2% of the votes cast for U.S. representative in the last general election. That came to 5,263 for 2026, with an Aug. 24 filing deadline, according to the Wyoming Secretary of State.