When the time comes for the next American presidential election comes closer, independent candidates still pose a challenge for both Trump and Harris.
Recently, John F Kennedy Jr., former environmental lawyer, anti-vaccine activist and nephew of John F Kennedy, suspended his campaign in August to endorse Trump. Even with his departure, other independent candidates still threaten to draw votes from the major party candidates.
Jill Stein
Jill Stein, an activist and physician, ran for president for the Green Party in 2012 and 2016. Some Democrats believe her 2016 campaign helped Donald Trump win. Now, at 74, she is running again. Stein argues that most Americans don’t vote for someone they like, but against someone they don’t. She is pushing for an “economic bill of rights” that would include things like universal health care and the right to a job.
Stein also supports fighting climate change, protecting abortion access and transgender rights. She was recently arrested at a protest in Gaza. While she is not expected to get more than 2% of the vote, that could still hurt Harris’ chances.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Trump by fewer votes than Stein in three key states. Stein claims Democrats are trying to keep her off state ballots to protect their power. She is on the ballot in at least four states so far, with her running mate Butch Ware, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Cornel West
Cornel West, a well-known academic and activist, is running on a socialist platform, which includes funding public health care and cutting the U.S. defense budget. His campaign is complicated: he started in the People’s Party, then switched to the Green Party, and is now running as an independent.
West has criticized both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, calling Biden a “war criminal” and Trump a “fascist.” West’s candidacy could have been a problem for Harris in swing states like Michigan, but he was recently denied a spot on the ballot there.
He is currently on the ballot in nine states, but has struggled to raise money. His running mate is Melina Abdullah, a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Chase Oliver
Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate. The Libertarian Party is the third-largest political party in the United States. Oliver, a 40-year-old sales executive who previously ran for Congress in Georgia, says voters are tired of choosing “the lesser of two evils.”
His campaign focuses on balancing the budget, ending military aid to Israel and Ukraine, closing U.S. military bases abroad, and abolishing the death penalty. The party typically appeals to voters who favor small government and more individual freedom, and its candidates typically get 1-3% of the vote, mostly from Republicans.
In the 2020 presidential election, the Libertarian Party candidate received more votes in three key states than Donald Trump lost those states by. In fact, he could have won those states if the votes for the Libertarian candidate had gone to Trump instead, potentially changing the overall outcome of the election.