What you need to know about 2024’s third-party candidates so far (2024)

Amna Nawaz:

With the rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump officially set, third-party candidates and well-funded organizations are attempting to carve out their own paths.

Geoff Bennett recently took a closer look.

Geoff Bennett:

No third-party or independent candidate has received more than 19 percent of the vote in modern history. Still, the effort to field an alternative ticket is under way.

White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez has been following all of this and joins us now.

So, Laura, remind us who these third-party candidates are and which ones are actually gaining traction.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Right.

Let's go through the list, Geoff. So, first, we have, of the independence, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West. Then, when it comes to potential third parties, No Labels,they don't have a candidate yet. Green Party, candidate is to be determined. Libertarian Party, the candidate is also to be determined.

But when it comes to them getting ballot access, a number of them are. So, currently, there is at least one third-party or independent candidate from that list that I mentioned on the ballot in 44 states so far. But, when you take a look at the battleground states that will ultimately be the states that determine this election, a third-party candidate is on the ballot in all seven of those battleground states, Geoff.

Geoff Bennett:

Of the candidates you mentioned, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is arguably the best known. What kind of progress is he making?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

RFK Jr. has been receiving about 19 percent of voter support in the polls so far. And he's pulling right now in those polls from both President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

He's expected to announce a vice presidential candidate on March 26 in Oakland. He's struggled to get on a number of the ballots across states. But, despite that, Democrats really see him as a threat to their candidate more so than Republicans do. The Democratic National Committee is heavily focusing on RFK Jr. right now, because they see him, as you said, this candidate with the biggest name I.D., the Kennedy name behind him.

And they are going to be highlighting over and over again the conspiracy theories that he has embraced, whether that's saying that chemicals in the water turn people transgender or his big anti-vaccine platform, which, again, there's no evidence there, Geoff, that vaccines are harmful to people or of his any other conspiracy theories.

Geoff Bennett:

We have seen the political group No Labels spend a lot of money trying to field their own candidate. They still don't have a ticket. Where does that stand?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

This week, they selected a nominating committee to pick that presidential candidate, which they said they aimed to pick by April.

And when I talked to No Labels, they said they aren't doing this because they want to be a spoiler, that they're doing this because of the fact that they see two candidates, leading candidates, that have low approval rating. But they push back on the accusations against them that this is simply a spoiler effort.

Ryan Clancy, Chief Strategist, No Labels:

The idea that any of us are going to put our careers on the line and our reputations on the line so we can be part of a shadow effort to help Donald Trump is a joke. That's not what this is about. What this is about is providing a choice to the public that both parties absolutely refuse to provide.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Still, Geoff, after starting this effort nearly two years ago, No Labels has not been able to find a presidential candidate, and some of their leading contenders, like former Republican Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, have said that they have no interest in mounting a third-party bid.

Geoff Bennett:

It seems to be the Democrats, Laura, who are most concerned about a third-party candidate siphoning off votes from President Biden. How are Democrats in the Biden campaign responding to this?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Democrats are reacting to this in a way that they never have before, Geoff. They say that they're not going to make the same mistakes that were made in 2016.

And the Democratic National Committee has a team dedicated to combating a third-party threat now. There was a new super PAC called Clear Choice that was launched by Biden allies to also confront this. And then there's this — these Democratic outside groups across the spectrum, whether it's the progressives at MoveOn or the more moderate Democrats at Third Way, that are really trying to tackle this.

And they say that, ultimately, right now, their focus is on trying to persuade potential high-profile candidates that may mount a bid to not do so. But, come summer, they are going to be heavily focused on educating voters about what they say is the big threat of a third-party candidacy.

Matt Bennett, Co-Founder, Third Way:

If they throw away their vote and cast it for a third-party candidate who has no hope of winning, they are, in essence, helping Donald Trump, because Trump has no way of winning a two-way race. He cannot get anywhere close to 50 percent of the vote, but he can win a multicandidate race if people throw away their votes and vote for people like Kennedy.

But between Kennedy and No Labels and the others, there is an enormous risk.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Geoff, that risk that Matt Bennett is talking about is something that the Biden campaign is well aware of.

But, right now, Biden and advisers say that they are heavily focused on making this a binary choice, about they just want to present to voters that this race is ultimately between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Now, if we see, come summer, that a viable or a potential third-party candidate can pose a significant threat to President Joe Biden, then sources close to Biden will tell me that you could very well see the Biden campaign or other Democratic groups start to push out testimonials from voters that voted in 2016 for a Green Party candidate like Jill Stein and then saw that sway the ultimate result in key states like Michigan and Wisconsin.

Geoff Bennett:

That's an interesting strategy.

How are voters responding to all of this right now? Are any of these candidates actually making headway among general election voters?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

I have talked to some potential swing voters in states like Arizona who say that they're curious about a third-party candidacy or an independent candidate.

Sarah Longwell, a Republican pollster who does focus groups with a number of independent and swing voters, says that some voters have expressed concern that a third-party or independent candidate may not be totally realistic.

Woman:

If I could only pick between Trump and Biden, I would go Biden, but if there's other people out there, I'm definitely going to look at them. However, I also feel like a lot of times it's a throwaway vote. Then maybe Trump would get in.

Man:

I think that No Labels thing is very idealist. Like, oh, wouldn't this be nice to have kind of a moderate ticket? Not pragmatic. It's not — we always complain about the two-party system, but there's no way to beat it.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Still, Longwell told me that a lot of GOP voters who voted for Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, which are voters that President Joe Biden is going to be targeting, that they are potentially susceptible to a third-party candidate, especially if it's a Republican that's leading that ticket.

And again, Geoff, as you well know, that could have a significant impact at the margins in those battleground states.

Geoff Bennett:

Absolutely.

Laura Barron-Lopez, thanks, as always, for that great reporting.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Thank you.