Independent Republican is a term occasionally adopted by members of Congress in the United States to refer to their party affiliation[1] and is also used for those on the state level who are Republicans but do not affiliate with the national Republican Party.
It has generally been used by members of Congress that have considered themselves as members of the Republican Party, but who did not receive the nomination of the Republican Party and therefore ran against and defeated the Republican Party's official candidate in the general election. Examples include Thomas S. Butler, who served from 1897-1928 from Pennsylvania, Henry K. Porter, who served from 1903-1905 from Pennsylvania, and Peter A. Porter, who served from 1907-1909 from New York. Lisa Murkowski, who was defeated in the Republican Primary by Tea Party backed Joe Miller won the United States Senate election in Alaska, 2010 as a write-in candidate and could possibly adopt this party affiliation.
Its counterpart for the Democratic Party is the term "Independent Democrat".