The Making of the President 2024: Third Parties
History has shown that while no third party candidate has ever won a Presidential election, these candidacies can affect the electoral calculus, though no one can ever be certain precisely how, since it is unclear who each of those casting a ballot for a third party candidate would have voted for if their candidate of choice was not in the race, or if they would have even voted at all. Two of the third party candidates thought by historians to have had the biggest impact on elections were James Birney, who ran for the Liberty Party in 1844 and Theodore Roosevelt, who ran for the Progressive Party in 1912. Birney, an anti-slavery candidate, is believed to have siphoned off enough votes from Henry Clay to cost him the state of New York (and give the Presidential election victory to James K. Polk.) If Theodore Roosevelt had stood with a united Republican Party instead of splitting that party's votes, it is unlikely that Woodrow Wilson would have won the 1912 Presidential election. (It is more unlikely if Roosevelt had won the Republican Party's nomination than if William Howard Taft had, as he did, and Roosevelt had stayed out of the race.) Many credit the strong third party showing of Ross Perot for the defeat of George H. W. Bush in 1992, and many Democrats blame Ralph Nader for the election of George W. Bush in 2000, though once again that conclusion is less clear.
For the 2024 Presidential election, third-party and independent candidates have announced presidential runs. These include Robert F, Kennedy Jr., who had once sought the Democratic Party nomination, as well as socialist activist and intellectual Cornel West, who announced a campaign as an independent after initially announcing a run as a People's Party and later a Green Party candidate.
A centrist political organization called "No Labels" had expressed an intention to field a third-party "unity ticket", but it has now abandoned its efforts to do so as of this month. There are also some established third parties, such as the American Solidarity Party, the Prohibition Party, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation who have announced presidential nominees, while others, such as the Libertarian Party, the Green Party and the Constitution Party, have started their primary process but do not yet have a candidate. Historically, independent or third-party candidates usually do better in opinion polls than in actual election performance. In 2024 however, there seems to be a higher level of dissatisfaction with the two options for president presented by the two major parties and so third-party candidates have the strongest showing in polls since Ross Perot's high poll numbers in the 1990s.
One of the major difficulties for third party candidates is getting their candidate's name on the ballot in every states. Presently only the Republicans and the Democrats have their candidate's name on the ballot in all 50 states. No third party has ballot access in enough states to get 270 votes to win the presidency, without running a write-in campaign.
Following is a list of third parties who have candidates for President nominated for the 2024 election who have some ballot access:
American Solidarity Party: Peter Sonski, a Connecticut local politician
Prohibition Party: Michael Wood, a businessman
Party for Socialism and Liberation: Claudia De la Cruz, a political activist
The following parties have nominated candidates, but do not have ballot access on any states:
Socialist Party USA: Bill Stodden, a nonprofit executive
Socialist Equality Party: Joseph Kishore, a writer
Socialist Workers Party: Rachele Fruit, a hotel worker and trade unionist
Transhumanist Party: Tom Ross, a technology and political activist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after initially running in the Democratic primary, became an independent candidate in October 2023. He is the son of former Attorney-General and New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He is an environmental lawyer who is accused of promoting conspiracy theories, including anti-vaccination theories. He has drawn support among independent and anti-establishment voters disillusioned with mainstream American political parties. His polling, as of November 2023, was at the highest levels for a candidate outside the two major parties since 1992. On March 26, 2024, Kennedy announced Nicole Shanahan, an attorney from California, as his running mate. Members of his family have campaigned against him for President Joe Biden. Kennedy has a PAC (a political action committee) that is alleged to be funded by supporters of Donald Trump.
Other independent candidates who have declared their intention to run for President include Shiva Ayyadurai, an engineer, entrepreneur, and anti-vaccine activist, who ran for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in 2018 and 2020; Johnny Buss, part-owner and vice president of strategic development of the Los Angeles Laker; Joseph "Afroman" Foreman, a rapper; and
Taylor Marshall, podcaster and author.
The Libertarian Party has not yet selected a presidential candidate, but those running for the party's presidential nomination include Chase Oliver, customer service specialist and nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia in 2022; Art Olivier, former mayor of Bellflower, California (1998-1999) and Libertarian nominee for vice president in 2000; and Michael Rectenwald, author and former liberal studies professor at New York University.
The Green Party is in a similar position, and those seeking the party's presidential nomination include Jill Stein, physician and 2012 and 2016 Green presidential nominee, member of the Lexington Town Meeting (2005-2010); and Randy Toler, political activist and co-chair of the Green Party of Florida.
Rapper Kanye West had proposed running for President in 2024, but has since abandoned those plans.
With the race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump being so close, it is difficult to predict how much of an impact third party candidates such as Kennedy will have on the race and what amount of support he may take from each of the two main contenders.
For the 2024 Presidential election, third-party and independent candidates have announced presidential runs. These include Robert F, Kennedy Jr., who had once sought the Democratic Party nomination, as well as socialist activist and intellectual Cornel West, who announced a campaign as an independent after initially announcing a run as a People's Party and later a Green Party candidate.
A centrist political organization called "No Labels" had expressed an intention to field a third-party "unity ticket", but it has now abandoned its efforts to do so as of this month. There are also some established third parties, such as the American Solidarity Party, the Prohibition Party, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation who have announced presidential nominees, while others, such as the Libertarian Party, the Green Party and the Constitution Party, have started their primary process but do not yet have a candidate. Historically, independent or third-party candidates usually do better in opinion polls than in actual election performance. In 2024 however, there seems to be a higher level of dissatisfaction with the two options for president presented by the two major parties and so third-party candidates have the strongest showing in polls since Ross Perot's high poll numbers in the 1990s.
One of the major difficulties for third party candidates is getting their candidate's name on the ballot in every states. Presently only the Republicans and the Democrats have their candidate's name on the ballot in all 50 states. No third party has ballot access in enough states to get 270 votes to win the presidency, without running a write-in campaign.
Following is a list of third parties who have candidates for President nominated for the 2024 election who have some ballot access:
American Solidarity Party: Peter Sonski, a Connecticut local politician
Prohibition Party: Michael Wood, a businessman
Party for Socialism and Liberation: Claudia De la Cruz, a political activist
The following parties have nominated candidates, but do not have ballot access on any states:
Socialist Party USA: Bill Stodden, a nonprofit executive
Socialist Equality Party: Joseph Kishore, a writer
Socialist Workers Party: Rachele Fruit, a hotel worker and trade unionist
Transhumanist Party: Tom Ross, a technology and political activist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after initially running in the Democratic primary, became an independent candidate in October 2023. He is the son of former Attorney-General and New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He is an environmental lawyer who is accused of promoting conspiracy theories, including anti-vaccination theories. He has drawn support among independent and anti-establishment voters disillusioned with mainstream American political parties. His polling, as of November 2023, was at the highest levels for a candidate outside the two major parties since 1992. On March 26, 2024, Kennedy announced Nicole Shanahan, an attorney from California, as his running mate. Members of his family have campaigned against him for President Joe Biden. Kennedy has a PAC (a political action committee) that is alleged to be funded by supporters of Donald Trump.
Other independent candidates who have declared their intention to run for President include Shiva Ayyadurai, an engineer, entrepreneur, and anti-vaccine activist, who ran for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in 2018 and 2020; Johnny Buss, part-owner and vice president of strategic development of the Los Angeles Laker; Joseph "Afroman" Foreman, a rapper; and
Taylor Marshall, podcaster and author.
The Libertarian Party has not yet selected a presidential candidate, but those running for the party's presidential nomination include Chase Oliver, customer service specialist and nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia in 2022; Art Olivier, former mayor of Bellflower, California (1998-1999) and Libertarian nominee for vice president in 2000; and Michael Rectenwald, author and former liberal studies professor at New York University.
The Green Party is in a similar position, and those seeking the party's presidential nomination include Jill Stein, physician and 2012 and 2016 Green presidential nominee, member of the Lexington Town Meeting (2005-2010); and Randy Toler, political activist and co-chair of the Green Party of Florida.
Rapper Kanye West had proposed running for President in 2024, but has since abandoned those plans.
With the race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump being so close, it is difficult to predict how much of an impact third party candidates such as Kennedy will have on the race and what amount of support he may take from each of the two main contenders.