6 Faces to Watch Here are six contenders who could launch third-party bids:
and Public Policy throws cold water on the idea. “Sore loser” laws in many
states ban a candidate from running as an independent or third-party candidate if they’ve previously run in the same race under a different banner. Trump couldn’t mount
such a campaign because he would be denied ballot access in 28 states totaling 290 elec- toral votes given sore loser laws would likely be enforced. He couldn’t tell voters he
had the chance to be elected because he wouldn’t be on enough state ballots to win the necessary 270 Electoral College votes. If both the No Labels and
Trump third-party “spoiler” effort end up not materializing, does that mean third parties won’t play a role in the 2024 election? Not at all. Richard Winger, editor of
Ballot Access News and an expert on third-party politics, believes the Libertarian Party will once again be on the ballot in all 50 states, and the candi- dacy of left-wing activist Cor- nel West will allow the Green Party to appear on at least the 44 state ballots that 2016 nomi- nee Jill Stein was on. Winger points out that sev-
eral states have made their ballot access laws easier in recent years, including Oklahoma and North Carolina. But he also notes some moves from
major parties to sabotage third par- ties. In 2020, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rammed through a law that tripled the number of sig- natures required to get on the presi- dential ballot to 45,000, and required they be collected in a six-week period. Expect Democrats to be especially
active in trying to stop West’s Green Party candidacy. In 2020, Green Party presiden- tial candidate Howie Hawkins was
Last month, he told CBS News’ Face the Nation that “everything’s on the table and nothing’s off the table.”
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West is challenging both the Democrat and Republican establishments, raging against them in equal measure and raising the stakes of being a spoiler in the fall.
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there ever to be reelected. He finished his second term leading a state in which Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin. He’s a favorite among “never Trumpers.”
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Despite some controversial stances, Kennedy is garnering significant support in the Democrat primary.
Kennedy said he wouldn’t back Biden if he loses the primary, which could potentially signal that he’s open to running as a third-party candidate. Another sign may have emerged during a recent podcast in which he said he aimed to “convince every Democrat that you’re not a Democrat and every Republican that you’re not a Republican.”
facing a crowded field in which any candidate still has the potential to engineer an upset. Were that stunning scenario to occur, it wouldn’t be totally out of character for the former president to consider running under a third-party banner. He briefly sought the White House in 2000 as a candidate for the Reform Party.
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denied a spot on the Pennsylvania ballot because he faxed in his docu- mentation papers rather than hand deliver them. In Wisconsin, Hawkins was
thrown off the ballot because ballot petitions require that candidates list their postal address. Hawkins’ vice presidential candi-
date had moved to a different address within the same city during the peti- tion drive, thus disqualifying half of the petitions. It’s pretty clear that the odds
against a third-party presidential candidate actually winning the White
House represent the same kind of chal- lenge that climbing Mount Everest without oxygen would. But the increasing polarization of
the country and the fact that right and left are so evenly divided means that even the small number of voters who gravitate toward third parties can have an outsize impact on the results. The continued failure of the two
major parties to come up with candi- dates who can appeal across ideologi- cal lines means there will always be a group of voters who reject “the evil of two lessers” binary choice served up by the two major parties.
SEPTEMBER 2023 | NEWSMAX 41
Former President Donald Trump: While Trump consistently polls as the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP nomination, he’s
Former Gov. Larry Hogan: The moderate Republican was a popular governor in Maryland and became the second GOP governor
Jon Huntsman: The one-time governor of Utah has served in every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan’s. He brings strong
foreign policy credentials. He served as President Trump’s ambassador to Moscow and President Obama’s ambassador to China. He’s also had experience running for president — he ran unsuccessfully in 2012 for the GOP nomination.
Cornel West has changed his afiliation to the Green Party and poses a major threat from the left to President Biden. The Hill says
Sen. Joe Manchin: The centrist Democrat has not ruled out a presidential run as he faces a tough Senate reelection campaign.
WEST/PAUL MAROTTA/GETTY IMAGES / MANCHIN, KENNEDY JR., AND TRUMP/AP IMAGES
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