Longtime GOP Senator Known For Ditching Democrat Party Passes Away

Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a larger-than-life Colorado lawmaker who famously ditched the Democrats mid-career and carved out a singular place in Washington history, died Tuesday at age 92, his family said.

Campbell died of natural causes surrounded by family, according to his daughter, Shanan Campbell. He is survived by his wife, Linda, their children Shanan and Colin, and four grandchildren.

A onetime Democrat turned Republican, Campbell switched parties in 1995 while serving in the U.S. Senate, a move that stunned Washington and enraged party leaders on the left. He held the Senate seat from 1993 until retiring in 2005 due to health issues.

Before his Senate tenure, Campbell served in both the U.S. House and the Colorado House, building a reputation as an independent-minded lawmaker with little patience for party orthodoxy.

Campbell was widely known for his fierce advocacy on Native American issues and his unmistakable personal style, often sporting cowboy boots, bolo ties and a ponytail in the halls of Congress.

A member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, Campbell said his ancestors were among more than 150 Native Americans, mostly women, children and elderly men, killed by U.S. soldiers while camped under a flag of truce on Nov. 29, 1864. He later helped sponsor legislation to upgrade Great Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado, where the killings occurred, to national park status.

He also backed children’s rights, organized labor, and fiscal conservatism, an unusual mix that defied easy political labels.

(2004) US Senator Ben “Nighthorse” Campbell (Left), Republican from Colorado, and US Air Force General Richard B. Myers (Right), Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, CO, pose with USAF Senior Airman Stacy Woodward of the 50th Security Forces Squadron, Schriever AFB, CO.

Outside politics, Campbell was a renowned master jeweler, with designs displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

“He was a master jeweler with a reputation far beyond the boundaries of Colorado. I will not forget his acts of kindness. He will be sorely missed,” Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, wrote on X.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Campbell’s service.

“He will be missed here in Colorado and across the country, and his contributions leave a lasting legacy to our state and nation,” Polis wrote on X.

Born April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California, Campbell served in the Air Force during the Korean War before launching a remarkably varied career.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1957 and later attended Meiji University in Tokyo from 1960 to 1964. He captained the U.S. judo team at the 1964 Olympics and won a gold medal at the Pan American Games.

Campbell also worked as a deputy sheriff in Sacramento County, coached the U.S. national judo team, ran his own dojo in Sacramento and taught high school classes.

An avid motorcycle rider and cattle rancher, he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. He also drove the Capitol Christmas Tree across the country to Washington, D.C., on several occasions.

“He was truly one of a kind, and I am thinking of his family in the wake of his loss,” Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, wrote on X.

After leaving public office, Campbell founded Ben Nighthorse Consultants, a lobbying firm focused on federal policy, including Native American affairs and natural resources. He also continued designing and crafting American Indian jewelry.

Campbell said his 1995 party switch came after Democrats killed a balanced-budget amendment in the Senate, but insisted his core beliefs never wavered.

“It didn’t change me. I didn’t change my voting record. For instance, I had a sterling voting record as a Democrat on labor. I still do as a Republican. And on minorities and women’s issues,” he once said.

A social liberal and fiscal conservative, Campbell said criticism followed him from all sides.

“I get hammered from the extremes,” he said after the switch. “I’m always willing to listen … but I just don’t think you can be all things to all people, no matter which party you’re in.”

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