Independent Leadership Council co-founder Adam Brandon speaks during a morning news conference with U.S. Senate candidate Brian Bengs Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, at the Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Sioux Falls. (Joe Sneve / The Dakota Scout)
A key orchestrator of the Tea Party movement that sent a wave of fiscal hawk Republicans to Capitol Hill nearly two decades ago is now betting on independent candidates to confront runaway federal spending.
And not the likes of elected officials unaffiliated with a political party who have earned reputations as Democrat-friendly progressives while already serving in Washington, D.C.
“I would say anyone who caucuses with a party is a fake independent,” former FreedomWorks president and organizer Adam Brandon said Tuesday at the Old Courthouse Museum in Sioux Falls, where he joined U.S. Senate candidate Brian Bengs, the retired military officer from Hot Springs seeking to unseat Sen. Mike Rounds in next week’s election.
