William Alexander Watson Sheldon (18 January 1907 – 1 November 1999) was an Irish politician and farmer, he was re-elected as an independent or nonpartisan politician starting in which year? 
1944
William Sheldon (Irish politician)
William Alexander Watson Sheldon (18 January 1907 – 1 November 1999) was an Irish politician and farmer.
 He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1943 general election as a Clann na Talmhan Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal East constituency.
 He was re-elected as an independent TD at the 1944, 1948, 1951, 1954 and 1957 general elections.
 He did not contest the 1961 general election as the constituency was reduced from 4 to 3 seats but was nominated by the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass to the 10th Seanad.
 He was re-nominated to the Seanad in 1965 and 1969, and he retired from politics in 1973.
 He was also a member of Donegal County Council from 1945 to 1955.
Independent politician
An independent or nonpartisan politician is an individual politician not affiliated with any political party.
 There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Daniel O'Leary (Fine Gael)
Daniel O'Leary (1 September 1877 – 31 March 1951) was an Irish politician, farmer and vintner.
 He was an unsuccessful independent candidate at the 1923 general election, but was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork North constituency at the September 1927 general election.
 He was re-elected at the 1932 and 1933 general elections.
 At the 1937 general election, he was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the Cork West constituency.
 He lost his seat at the 1938 general election, and was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1943 and 1944 general elections. John Keating (Irish politician)
John Keating (2 August 1869 – 8 July 1956) was an Irish politician and farmer.
 Keating was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a National League Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency at the June 1927 general election.
 He lost his seat at the September 1927 general election but was elected as a Cumann na nGaedheal TD at the 1932 general election and was re-elected at the 1933 general election.
 He was elected as a Fine Gael TD at the 1937 and 1938 general elections.
 He lost his seat at the 1943 general election but was re-elected at the 1944 general election.
 He stood as an independent candidate at the 1948 general election but did not retain his seat. James Coburn (Irish politician)
James Coburn (13 April 1889 – 5 December 1953), also known as "The Juker" Coburn, was an Irish politician.
 A builders foreman, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a National League Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency at the June 1927 general election.
 He was re-elected at the September 1927 general election but became an independent TD in July 1931 following the disbandment of the National League Party.
 He was re-elected as an independent TD at the 1932 and 1933 general elections.
 At the 1937 general election he was re-elected as a Fine Gael TD for Louth.
 He was re-elected at each general election until the 1951 general election.
 His background as a builder led to Fianna Fáil supporters disrupting Coburn's rallies at election time by singing "A mason once again" to the tune of the Fine Gael anthem A Nation Once Again.
 He died during the 14th Dáil and the subsequent by-election on 3 March 1954 was won by his son George Coburn. Patrick O'Reilly (Cavan politician)
Patrick O'Reilly (1 April 1927 – 19 February 1994) was an Irish politician.
 A farmer by profession, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1943 general election as a Clann na Talmhan Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan constituency and was re-elected at the 1944 general election.
 He did not contest the 1948 general election.
 He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Cavan at the 1951, 1954, 1957 and 1961 general elections.
 He lost his Dáil seat at the 1965 general election but was elected to the 11th Seanad on the Agricultural Panel.
 He was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1969 general election but lost his seat at the 1973 general election. Bernard Maguire
Bernard John "Ben" Maguire was an Irish politician, farmer and company director.
 Maguire stood unsuccessfully for election at the June 1927 general election.
 He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Leitrim–Sligo constituency at the September 1927 general election.
 He was re-elected for the same constituency at the 1932 and 1933 general elections.
 At the 1937 general election he was elected for the Leitrim constituency and was re-elected for this constituency at the 1938 general election. Dermot O'Mahony
Dermot (Gun) O'Mahony (2 April 1881 – 22 April 1960) was an Irish politician and farmer.
 He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency at the June 1927 general election.
 He was re-elected at the September 1927, 1932 and 1933 general elections.
 He was re-elected at the 1937 general election as a Fine Gael TD.
 He lost his seat at the 1938 general election. William Broderick
William Joseph Broderick (20 May 1877 – 1 June 1957) was an Irish politician and farmer.
 He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork East constituency at the 1932 general election.
 He was re-elected at the 1933 general election but lost his seat at the 1937 general election.
 At the 1938 general election, he was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the Waterford constituency.
 At the 1943 general election, he moved to the Cork South-East constituency, and was re-elected for this constituency at the 1944 general election.
 He did not contest the 1948 general election. Daniel Vaughan
Daniel Vaughan (27 July 1897 – 23 September 1975) was an Irish politician and farmer.
 He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1922 general election as a Farmers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Mid, North, South, South East and West constituency.
 He was re-elected at the 1923 general election for the Cork North constituency.
 He was again re-elected at the June 1927, September 1927 and 1932 general elections.