Third-Party Candidates
The 2024 presidential election is all but certain to be yet another rematch between President Biden and former President Trump. But with many Americans expressing increased dissatisfaction with both of these candidates, the question must be asked, “Is there an alternative to the two?”
Most elections have featured third-party candidates, and 2024 is no different. Four of these candidates have emerged as the most prominent.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A scion of the prominent Kennedy family, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental lawyer who announced his independent bid for the presidency in October 2023 after a short-lived campaign in the Democratic primaries. Prior to his presidential campaign, Kennedy had become famous as an anti-vaccine advocate. Since 2015, he has chaired the Children’s Health Defense, a group alleging that children have diseases such as autism and autoimmune diseases due to exposure to chemicals in vaccines.
Kennedy holds a diverse array of political positions. He is supportive of abortion rights, gay marriage, and gun control, and has also taken a populist stance on the economy promising to break up “too-big-to-fail” banks and monopolies. On the other hand, he has criticized President Biden’s management of the U.S.-Mexico border, supported reducing American military presence in other countries, and vowed to repeal climate initiatives passed in Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act.
Kennedy has drawn support from independents, youth, and Republican donors, the latter of which believe he will act as a spoiler candidate for Biden. He has also drawn support from various industry executives in Silicon Valley and even picked Silicon Valley lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate. Kennedy’s significant financial backing allowed him to run a 30-second ad during this year’s Super Bowl. Several members of his extended family have opposed his campaign and chose to back Biden instead. Kennedy has polled between 5 and 15 percent in recent polling and currently has ballot access in 21 states with a total of 292 electoral votes.
Cornel West
Describing himself as a “non-Marxist socialist”, Cornel West is a philosopher and academic who typically focuses on topics of race and class in American society. He previously served as an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. West has a history of supporting left-wing candidates, supporting Green Party nominee Ralph Nader in 2000 and Bernie Sanders in his progressive candidacy to be the Democratic nominee in 2016. In June 2023, he announced his candidacy for the presidency, initially contesting the Green Party nomination but later withdrawing to become an independent.
This year, he is running to Biden’s left, with his campaign featuring several progressive positions such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, ending all new oil drilling, universal public housing, and a plan to implement term limits in Congress. He supports ending U.S. support for NATO, Ukraine, and Israel and has vowed to drastically decrease the military budget and close most military bases. In April 2024, he selected academic Melina Abdullah as his running mate.
West has averaged single digits in most polling, although his campaign has still sparked concerns among Democratic insiders of being a potential spoiler candidate for Biden. His candidacy currently has ballot access in 7 states with a total of 55 electoral votes, with Republican operatives reportedly helping his campaign to gain access.
Chase Oliver
In May 2024, following a failed attempt by Trump allies to secure the Libertarian presidential nomination for Trump, America’s third-largest party has instead selected political activist Chase Oliver to be their nominee. Formerly a Democrat, Oliver joined the Libertarian Party in 2010 and has gone on to run as their nominee in the 2020 special election in Georgia’s 5th congressional district and the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia, the latter of which he was accused of being a spoiler candidate and forcing the top two candidates into a runoff.
Aligning with the Libertarian Party’s platform favoring civil liberties and limited government, Oliver supports abortion rights, gun rights, and the legalization of marijuana. He opposes aid to Israel and Ukraine and the death penalty and has also advocated for abolishing the Department of Education. Oliver has also indicated his support for the implementation of ranked-choice voting in elections, saying it would save taxpayer money and ensure winning candidates always get above 50% of the vote.
While he has not produced much support in polling (with the most recent one showing 1% support for him), Oliver’s Libertarian Party currently has ballot access in 37 states with a total of 380 electoral votes, far outpacing his fellow third-party candidates. He selected economist Mike ter Maat as his running mate.
Jill Stein
People may remember Jill Stein from the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections, where she ran as the Green Party nominee, the latter of which her bid was accused of helping Trump win. In June 2023, she assumed the role of campaign manager for Cornel West’s campaign, leaving that position after West abandoned seeking the Green Party nomination in October 2023. Following this, she launched another longshot bid for the presidency and is expected to be the Green Party nominee once again after winning that party’s 2024 presidential primaries.
Stein’s 2024 platform is similar to her previous platforms, advocating a broadly left-wing string of positions. She has primarily centered her campaign on ending U.S. support for Israel an promoting a Green New Deal and universal healthcare. On April 27, 2024, she was among dozens of protesters arrested at Washington University in St. Louis for protesting the Israeli invasion of Gaza and was even held at the county jail until 2 a.m. the next day. She approached Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a prominent Biden critic on Palestine, and asked him to be her running mate, although he would not meet the age requirement to be Vice President by Inauguration Day in 2025.
Stein currently has ballot access in 22 states on both Green Party and independent lines with a total of 273 electoral votes. She polled at around 1% of the vote in the most recent polling.
End
While 2024 has an array of third-party candidates as alternatives to Biden and Trump, it is significantly unlikely any of them will win. However, these four third-party candidates still possess the potential to act as spoiler candidates, helping either Biden or Trump win. It remains too early to see how much of an impact these candidates will have on the general election. However, their presence demonstrates that Americans still have an alternative to the major party candidates.
Sources
https://www.cornelwest2024.com
https://www.votechaseoliver.com
https://www.realclearpolling.com/latest-polls
https://www.racetothewh.com/president/polls
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