Andrew Yang, the former presidential and New York City mayoral candidate, announced on Monday that he is leaving the Democratic Party.
Yang published an essay on his website, in which he described the two-party system as “stuck” and claimed he could be more “honest” about politics if he were not officially a Democrat.
“I believe I can reach people who are outside the system more effectively,” he wrote. “I feel more… independent.
Yang also proposed alternative election systems, such as open primaries and ranked-choice voting, calling these “key reforms.”
Just last month, Yang announced plans to launch his own political party, known as “the Forward Party.”
In an excerpt from his new book, Yang described his experience running for president as a profoundly strange one. “I’d been a C.E.O. and founder of a company, but running for office was a different animal,” he wrote. “Everyone in my orbit started treating me like I might be a presidential contender. I was getting a crash course in how we treat the very powerful — and it was weird. It turns out that power actually gives you brain damage.”
