Third-party and independent candidates for the 2016 United States presidential election
This article contains lists of official and potential third party and independent candidates associated with the 2016 United States presidential election.
"Third party" is a term commonly used in the United States in reference to political parties other than the two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. An independent candidate is one who runs for office with no formal party affiliation.
Ballot access in states holding 270 or more electoral votes represents a majority of the 538 electoral votes in the Electoral College. The number of electoral votes for which a party or independent candidate has secured ballot access may increase as those parties or candidates complete their petitions, and filings for ballot access, until September 2016 when the last petition deadlines occur.
According to the Green Papers website, 31 people were on the ballot in at least one state, while 192, including those who were on ballots in some states, obtained recognition as official "write-in" candidates.
Summary
Candidates
Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party
Ballot access: The Libertarian ticket was on all 51 ballots.| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee |
Gary Johnson | Governor of New Mexico, 1995–2003 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, 2012 | May 29, 2016 | William Weld of Massachusetts | |
| Other parties | National Total | National percentage | highest single state total | highest single state percentage |
| Independence Party of New York | 4,489,221 | 3.3% | 402,452 California | 74,031 New Mexico |
Nationally, Johnson captured 5 percent or more of the vote in eight states: New Mexico, North Dakota, Alaska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Maine.
Poll standings
All major polling outfits included Johnson in their published results. His highest total was 13% in a CNN/ORC poll taken in July. After that he has generally was in the upper single digits, breaking 10% on October 10th in a Politico/Morning Consult poll.Johnson's greatest statewide percentage was in his home state of New Mexico, where he reached the mid-twenties in September before falling back into the teens. He polled in the teens in several other state states, most recently in a WBUR/MassINC poll taken in New Hampshire on November 1.
Party nomination contest
There were six primaries, Gary Johnson received 22,642 votes while none of the others received as much as 4,000.Jill Stein, Green Party
Ballot access : 47 states + DC| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee |
Jill Stein | Lexington Town Meeting member Green Party presidential nominee, 2012 | August 6, 2016 | Ajamu Baraka of Washington, D.C. | |
| National Total | National percentage | highest single state total | highest single state percentage | notes |
| 1,457,216 | 1.1% | 278,657 California | 12,737 Hawaii | This is the first fourth-place finisher to breach the one million mark since 1948 |
Poll standings
All major polling outfits included Stein in their published results. Her highest total was 6% in McClatchy/Marist poll taken early August. After that her highest total was 4% in a CBS/New York Times poll taken in late October. She generally polled at 2 or 3%.In statewide polling she reached as high as 7% in an Emerson College poll from Vermont in September.
Party nomination contest
Five additional candidates sought the Green Party nomination.Evan McMullin, Better for America Group and others
The anti-Donald Trump Better for America PAC recruited Evan McMullin as a candidate for president. He was on the ballot in 11 states and had write-in access in several others.| Name | Prior positions | State | Announced candidacy | Vice presidential candidate | Notes |
Evan McMullin | Chief Policy Director for the House Republican Conference, 2015–2016 CIA agent, 2001–2011 | August 8, 2016 | Mindy Finn of the District of Columbia | See also: Better for America Nathan Johnson, a resident of San Diego, appears as McMullin's running mate on numerous state ballots. | |
| Other parties | National Total | National percentage | highest single state total | highest single state percentage | |
| Independence Party of South Carolina Independence Party of Minnesota | 731,709 | 0.4% | 233,266 | 233,266 | Aside from his large total in Utah, the ticket came in third in Idaho, and fourth in seven of the nine other states where it was on the ballot. |
Darrell Castle, Constitution Party
Electoral votes: 207Write-in included: 406
Ballot access: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
Write-in access: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia.
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee |
Darrell Castle | Attorney, Constitution Party vice presidential nominee, 2008 | April 16, 2016 | Scott N. Bradley of Utah | |
| Other parties | National Total | National percentage | highest single state total | highest single state percentage |
| Taxpayer's Party Michigan | 203,069 | 0.1% | 21,010 Pennsylvania | 3,311 Alaska |
Poll standings
Castle was not featured in any national polls. He was listed in a few in Utah in August and September, where he got as much as 2%, and in Nevada, where he got 1%.Nomination contest
The 2016 presidential nominating convention was held in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 13–16.Gloria La Riva, multiple parties
Electoral votes: 80Ballot access: California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | Notes |
Gloria La Riva | Newspaper printer and activist Peace and Freedom Party presidential nominee, 2016, Party for Socialism and Liberation presidential nominee, 2008 Workers World Party presidential nominee, 1992 | July 2015 | Eugene Puryear of Washington, D.C. Dennis Banks of Minnesota |
| |
| State parties | National Total | National percentage | Peace and Freedom Total | other party total | - |
| Party for Socialism and Liberation Peace and Freedom Liberty Union . | 74,405 | 0.1% | 53,133 | 7,857 | - |
Party for Socialism and Liberation
La Riva was on the ballot in numerous states under this banner and as an independent.Liberty Union Party (Vermont)
La Riva won the primary in Vermont and thus was awarded the ballot line there.La Riva participated in the Free and Equal presidential debate.
Peace and Freedom Party
La Riva won the primary in California and thus was awarded the ballot line at the state convention. Jill Stein, who was on the Green party primary ballot was removed from the PF one.Rocky De La Fuente, American Delta and Reform Parties, plus others
Electoral votes: 147 'Write-In included: 346 Electors
Anticipated Write-In Included: 404 Electors
Ballot access:
Under the ballot label "Reform Party" Florida
Under the ballot label "American Delta Party": Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico.
As an independent: Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
Write-in: Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Virginia, Kansas, West Virginia, Washington. Total 199 Electors
Anticipated write-in: Connecticut, Missouri, South Dakota
No ballot access 2016: Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina.
| Name | Prior positions | State | Announced candidacy | Vice presidential nominee | Notes |
Rocky De La Fuente | Businessman | July 19, 2016 | Michael Steinberg of Florida | Received 67,457 votes in the Democratic presidential primary Ran for the Democratic United States Senate nomination in Florida, 2016 | |
| State parties | National Total | National percentage | highest single state total | highest single state percentage | - |
| American Delta Reform | 33,136 | 0% | 9,101 Florida | 1,063 ''' Vermont | - |
Poll standings
In August and September, De la Fuente polled 1% in Nevada in a poll conducted by Suffolk University.American Delta party nomination
The American Delta Party is an organization specifically created to support De La Fuente's independent candidacy.Reform party nomination
The Reform Party recognized the following other candidates as seeking its presidential nomination The vote totals nominating De La Fuente were never released.| Name | Notes |
| Ed Chlapowski | Owner/manager at Opportunity Resolution |
| Kenneth Cross | Semi-retired engineer and businessman 2012 Reform Party vice-presidential nominee |
| Lynn Kahn | Doctor of clinical psychology 2016 Peace and Freedom Party presidential candidate. Will appear on Arkansas and Iowa ballot. |
| Darcy Richardson | Author and historian 2012 Democratic Party presidential candidate |
Richard Duncan, Independent
Bernie Sanders
Several grassroots campaigns to elect Bernie Sanders President as a write-in candidate were established on social media in the run-up to the United States presidential election. Though Sanders continued to campaign for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, supporters pointed to alleged DNC bias in the Democratic Party's presidential primaries against Sanders, and Clinton's email scandal, and continued to support him. Both Clinton and Donald Trump would have had to win less than the required 270 electoral college votes for Sanders to have denied either candidate the presidency, and for the election to be passed to the House of Representatives - thus the initial write-in campaign around Vermont, offering only 3 electoral college votes, was unsuccessful. The campaign expanded to include all 12 eligible states, and relied on states such as California, with a high electoral college vote count and large support for Sanders, to be successful in denying both Trump and Clinton. He has received over 100 thousand popular votes and one electoral vote. Two other electoral votes were disallowed.Notably, he came in third in Vermont, coming ahead of both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein and taking 5.7% of the vote, something that has never happened before in a fall Presidential election.
Dan Vacek, Legal Marijuana Now Party
Ballot access: Iowa, Minnesota| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | National Popular vote |
Dan Vacek | Financial Assistance Caseworker, Ramsey County, Minnesota | July 25, 2016 | Mark Elworth of Nebraska | 13,538 |
Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party
Electoral votes: 70Ballot access: Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah, Washington
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | National vote total |
| Alyson Kennedy | Labor Organizer and Activist Socialist Workers Party vice presidential nominee 2008 | February 12, 2016 | Osborne Hart of Pennsylvania | 12,467 |
Chris Keniston, Veterans Party of America
Electoral votes: 15Ballot access: Colorado, Mississippi
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | Popular vote |
Chris Keniston | Reliability Engineer | Deacon Taylor of Florida | 7,251 |
Mike Maturen, American Solidarity Party
Electoral votes: 9; 332Ballot access: Colorado; Alabama,
Alaska,
California,
Georgia,
Idaho,
Iowa,
Kansas,
Kentucky,
Maryland,
Michigan,
Minnesota,
Nebraska,
New Hampshire,
New Jersey,
New York,
North Dakota,
Ohio,
Oregon,
Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island,
Texas,
Vermont,
Virginia,
Washington,
Wisconsin''
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | National Total |
| Mike Maturen | Sales professional | July 9, 2016 | Juan Muñoz | 6,797 |
James Hedges, Prohibition Party
Electoral votes: 21Ballot access: Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi
| Name | Prior positions | State | Announced candidacy | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee |
James Hedges | Tax Assessor, Thompson Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania American Independent Party presidential candidate, 2016 Prohibition Party presidential candidate, 2012 | July 2015 | July 31, 2015 | Bill Bayes of Mississippi | |
| State parties | National Total | National percentage | highest single state total | highest single state percentage | - |
| 5,617 | 0% | - | - | - |
Tom Hoefling, America's Party
Electoral votes: 44Ballot access: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida
| Name | Prior positions | State | Announced candidacy | Vice presidential nominee | national total |
| Tom Hoefling | Political activist American Independent Party and Constitution Party presidential candidate, 2016 American Independent Party and America's Party presidential nominee, 2012 | January 2016 | Steve Schulin of South Carolina | 4,856 |
Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party
Electoral votes: 30Ballot access: New Jersey, Utah, Wisconsin
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | National Total | National percentage |
| Monica Moorehead | Perennial candidate and activist | November 8, 2015 | Lamont Lilly | 4,319 | 0% |
Peter Skewes, American Party (South Carolina)
Electoral votes: 9Ballot access: South Carolina
| Name | Prior positions | State | Announced candidacy | Vice presidential nominee | national total |
| Peter Skewes | Professor, Clemson University | May 15, 2016 | Michael Lacy | 3,246 |
Laurence Kotlikoff, Independent
Rocky Giordani, Independent American Party
Electoral votes: 18Ballot access: New Mexico, Oregon, Utah
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | national total |
| Rocky Giordani | Author | November 7, 2015 | Farley Anderson | 2,752 |
Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik, Socialist Party USA
Electoral votes: 25Ballot access: Colorado, Michigan
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee |
Mimi Soltysik | Former National Co-Chair, Socialist Party USA | October 17, 2015 | Angela Walker of Wisconsin | |
| Other parties | National Total | National percentage | - | - |
| Natural Law Party | 2,705 | 0% | - | - |
Rod Silva, Nutrition Party
Electoral votes: 9Ballot access: Colorado
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | popular vote |
| Rod Silva | Restaurateur | October 20, 2015 | Richard Silva | 751 |
Jerry White, Socialist Equality Party
Electoral votes: 8Ballot access: Louisiana
| Name | Prior positions | State | Nominated | Vice presidential nominee | Total popular vote: |
Jerry White | Labor editor, World Socialist Web Site Socialist Equality Party presidential nominee, 1996, 2008, and 2012 | April 22, 2016 | Niles Niemuth of Wisconsin | 485 nationwide. |
Other candidate considerations
American Independent and other fusion tickets
Several states, most notably New York, permit fusion tickets. A fusion ticket is when a candidate or candidates are permitted more than one ballot line by being nominated by one or more third parties and permitting the votes on all lines to be added together for a single state total.The Clinton/Kaine ticket was on the ballot in New York on the Women's Equality and Working Families Party lines, while the Trump/Pence ticket was on the Conservative party there as well as the American Independent Party in California.
Conservative party nomination in New York
The state committee nominated Donald Trump by voice vote.Working Families party nomination in New York
Initially, the Working Families Party had endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, but when he conceded defeat at the Democratic convention and endorsed Hillary Clinton, the party had a mail in primary where Clinton defeated Jill Stein and "no endorsement" with 68% of the vote, preferring fusion rather than "asking voters to cast a vote that is at best meaningless and at worst destructive of progressive possibility."Woman's Equality party nomination in New York
A faction of the party's executive committee nominated Dr. Lynn Sandra Kahn, while another nominated Hillary Clinton. The New York State board of elections decided the former Secretary of State would get the ballot line.American Independent Party nomination in California
The state committee ignored the primary and designated Trump as its nominee.California did not record a separate ballot total for the AIP.
Below are the results of the California Primary ballot, which was rendered superfluous when the state committee decided to select Donald Trump.
No ballot access
According to the Federal Election Commission almost 2,000 people, both real and fictional, were registered as 2016 presidential candidates.Among the more notable ones are:
| Name | Prior positions | State | Announced candidacy | |
Zoltan Istvan | Futurist, writer, transhumanist philosopher | October 2014 | He had write-in access in New York and in Florida, where he received 76 and 19 votes respectively, for a total of 95 votes. | |
Dan Bilzerian | Professional poker player, internet celebrity | June 2015 | Withdrew in December 2015 and endorsed Donald Trump. | |
Ken Fields | Entrepreneur, environmental advocate | November 2015 | campaign last heard of in August. | |
Terry Jones | Pastor for Dove World Outreach Center | July 2013 | ||
| Lucy Lou | Mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky | November 2015 | ||
Merlin Miller | Filmmaker | July 2015 |
Write-in candidates
A minimum of 1,022,439 voters cast write in ballots, what is believed to be a record. Many were for registered candidates who were on the ballot in one or more states, others for candidates who were registered but were on no ballots and others were for fictional or perceptibly humorous figures, like of Mickey Mouse or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The vast majority of these will never be counted or recorded as individuals but as "Others" or "Scattered." Many states disallow write-in candidacies.Previously speculated
The following individuals were the focus of presidential speculation as an independent candidate in multiple media reports during the 2016 election cycle.- Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Withdrew
- Waka Flocka Flame, rap artist from Georgia
- John McAfee, anti-virus software businessman
- Ted Williams, voice actor from Ohio
Declined
- Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City 2002–2013
- David A. French, writer for National Review
- Jon Huntsman, Jr., United States Ambassador to China 2009–2011; Governor of Utah 2005–2009; presidential candidate in 2012
- John Kasich, Governor of Ohio since 2011, presidential candidate in 2000, U.S. Representative from Ohio 1983-2001, Member of the Ohio Senate from the 15th district 1979-1983
- Dennis Michael Lynch, businessman, documentary film maker and conservative commentator from New York
- Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont since 2007; U.S. Representative from Vermont 1991–2007 He was registered as a write-in candidate in Vermont and California without his authorization.
- Jesse Ventura, Governor of Minnesota 1999–2003, Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota 1991–1995
- Jim Webb, U.S. Senator from Virginia 2007–2013