While the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump advance as mainstream candidates, several third-party candidates have nevertheless made waves this election cycle.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign last week and endorsed Trump, saying he would remove his name from the ballot in swing states to minimize his role as a spoilsport. Green Party candidate Jill Stein and liberal independent candidate Cornel West are continuing to campaign despite polling at only about 1%.
Here’s which third-party candidates will, will not, and may be on the ballot in November.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
When Kennedy ended his campaign and endorsed Trump, he encouraged people to vote for him in the clearly Democratic-dominated states where he was unlikely to influence the outcome. Although he tried to remove his name from the ballot in the swing states, He had little success. He will be on the ballot in the swing states of Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. In Arizona he was successful in having his name removed from the ballot.
Kennedy is running in the following states:
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Kennedy’s access to the ballot has yet to be confirmed in the following states and the District of Columbia:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Washington, DC
Kennedy will not be running in the following states:
- Arizona
- Florida
- new York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
new York
Earlier this month, Kennedy lost a legal battle in New York after a court invalidated the New York address he had listed for his eligibility to vote. Kennedy’s campaign concluded that his eligibility to vote in dozens of other states where he had listed the New York address could be in jeopardy, but the issue became moot after he dropped out of the race.
Michigan
After Kennedy dropped out of the race, Michigan declared it was too late for Kennedy to withdraw his candidacy from the ballot. Nevada and North Carolina also declared it was too late for Kennedy to withdraw his candidacy, and Wisconsin certified his candidacy this week.
“Minor party candidates cannot withdraw their candidacy, so his name will remain on the ballot in November,” said Cheri Hardmon, chief press secretary for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Axios.
In the Wolverine State, Kennedy was at about 2% of the vote, which is about 167,820 votes. In 2016, Trump narrowly defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by less than one percentage point, or 10,700 votes, due in part to the presence of third-party candidates. President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by more than 150,000 votes.
Jill Stone
Stein will be running in the following states:
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee to remove Stein from the ballot. Democrats argued that Stein and her running mate should be excluded from the general election ballot because Stein’s party, the Green Party, holds no state office and does not have the state legislative candidates needed to nominate presidential electors.
In 2016, Stein was seen as a troublemaker here, as in Michigan and Pennsylvania, as she won votes from the left wing of the party by narrow margins, but by larger margins when Clinton lost the state. In Wisconsin, Stein received about 31,000 votes in 2016, while Trump beat Clinton by 24,000 votes at the same time.
Cornel West
West will appear on the ballot in the following states:
- Alaska
- Colorado
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Arizona
In August, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said West’s campaign had not submitted the necessary documents to gain access to ballots in the state before the certification deadline.
Michigan
West won a legal battle in Michigan after Judge James Redford of the Michigan Court of Claims ruled that the state was wrong to exclude West from the ballot after the state cited problems with West’s application. Redford ruled that Michigan “misapplied the law” by ruling that the requirement to file an affidavit of identity also applies to presidential candidates when “the AOIs submitted by the candidates cannot serve as a mechanism to exclude them from the ballot.”
Pennsylvania
Earlier this week, West lost a legal battle to gain eligibility to stand in the Pennsylvania ballot due to insufficient paperwork.
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Wisconsin
West will appear on the Wisconsin ballot, thanks in part to the help of Republican signature collectors. Wisconsin Election Commission documents obtained by USA Today announced that four people working for the Republican-aligned campaign firm Blair Group Consulting were collecting signatures for West’s candidacy.
Polls suggest that West will take votes from Harris in this election.
