Third Party and Independent Candidates
Libertarian | Green | Constitution
|
Independent
|
Americans Elect
The presence of a credible third party or independent
candidate in a general election campaign makes for a much more
interesting and unpredictable race. However, third party
candidates face huge barriers including unequal ballot access
requirements (+),
difficulty
recruiting
credible
candidates,
difficulty
raising
money,
and
difficulty
attracting
media
attention.
In
recent
election,
cycles
third
party
nominees
have
typically
been
little
known
or
unknown
and
had
scant
impact.
Ross
Perot
did
significantly
affect
the
1992
and
1996
campaigns.
More
recently
Ralph
Nader
has
been
the
most
well-known
alternative
candidate;
running
as
an
independent
he
obtained
just
0.56%
of
the
vote
in
2008
and
0.38%
in
2004.
[See
also:
Third
Parties]
If the Obama-Romney general election campaign turns off
voters, there will be other choices on the ballot.
Conventions:
Constitution
Party - April 18-21, 2012 in Nashville, TN.
Libertarian Party - May
2-6, 2012 in Las Vegas, NV.
Americans Elect - June 12
(and if needed June 19 and 26)
Green Party - July
12-15, 2012 in Baltimore, MD.
-The
Constitution Party chose former Congressman Virgil
Goode of
Virginia as its nominee, and Pennsylvanian Jim Clymer as his running
mate.
-The Libertarian Party selected as its ticket former Gov.
Gary Johnson of New Mexico and Jim Gray, a former Judge of the
California Superior Court of Orange County.
-Greens nominated Dr.
Jill
Stein, a physician from Lexington, Massachusetts who ran for governor
against Mitt Romney, and Cheri Honkala, founder and national
coordinator of Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign in
Philadelphia.
Other campaigns on the ballot in a significant number of states
include:
-The Justice Party ticket of Rocky Anderson and Luis Rodriguez
appears on the ballot in 15 states totalling 145 electoral votes.
-The Party for Socialism and Liberation ticket of Peta Lindsay and
Yari Osorio appears on the ballot in 13 states totalling 146 electoral
votes.
There are many others. See the list at Politics1.com.
Third party candidates face the huge hurdles, starting with the onerous challenge of meeting ballot access requirements in the 50 states. They are excluded from the fall presidential debates on the grounds that they do not meet a 15-percent polling threshhold. In contrast to the hundreds of millions of dollars raised and spent by the major party campaigns, they have very limited resources.
Finally mention must be made of Americans Elect, which sought to provide a credible third choice on the ballot in all 50 states but ended up as a footnote. By May 16, 2012 Americans Elect had achieved ballot access in 29 states (+). However, the group was not able to attract a big-name candidate. The most prominent figures to seek the Americans Elect nomination were former Gov. Buddy Roemer (LA) and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. On May 17 Americans Elect announced that its primary process had concluded without a qualified candidate.
- Useful Links
- Independent Political Report
- Ballot Access News