Bipartisanship got you down? No longer identify as either a Republican or Democrat? Was marking one of two boxes on the outside of your ballot a harder decision than you expected it to be? Well, you’re in luck because options for the next President of the United States don’t have to be that black and white, or in this case red and blue. Here’s everything you need to know about a selection of third party, or independent, candidates running for the position of 47th President of the United States.
As of March 11, 2024, there has been more than one thousand candidates who registered with the Federal Elections Committee (FEC) to run for president. The following are the third party or independent candidates who have reported receipts of more than $100,000 from sources other than the candidate’s own funds apart from the Libertarian and No Labels parties who have not declared a nominee.
Robert F. Kennedy (Independent)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy Sr. and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, is running for the presidential seat as an independent after withdrawing from the race as a Democrat in 2023.
Kennedy said he has been a “lifelong Democrat” but began to drift away from the party as he has become “increasingly estranged” from its ideology beginning in the 2010’s.
The State of Our Union pic.twitter.com/srpaPC815k
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) March 8, 2024
Kennedy is an attorney and environmentalist receiving TIME magazine’s “Hero of the Planet” accolade and the Sartisky Peace Award. Much of his work as an attorney has been centered around environmental justice including a series of Monsanto lawsuits, yielding more than $11 billion for farmers, laborers, and families exposed to the pesticide RoundUp. He has also sued dozens of municipalities to force compliance with the Clean Water Act, sued General Electric for toxic runoff from its corporate jet hangar, and court ordered ExxonMobil to clean up its tens of millions of gallons of oil spilled in Brooklyn, New York.
As of March 11, Kennedy’s campaign has raised approximately $24.2 million according to the Federal Elections Committee.
Jill Stein (Green Party)
Jill Stein is returning to the presidential race as a member of the Green Party. Stein is a Harvard-educated doctor who previously ran for president at the Green Party nominee in 2012 and 2016 and ran as the Green-Rainbow Party candidate for governor of Massachusetts, her home state, in 2002 and 2010.
Stein’s platform revolves around a Green New Deal centered on combatting climate change, income inequality, and advocating for social justice.
In 2023 Stein agreed to help Cornell West in his 2024 Green Party presidential bid but when West withdrew from the Green Party at the beginning of the year to run as an Independent, Stein was announced as the official 2024 Green Party presidential nominee going forward.
As of March 11, Stein’s campaign has raised approximately $0.2 million according to the Federal Election Committee.
Cornel West (Independent)
Dr. Cornel West, Philosophy Professor at Union Theological Seminary and former Harvard University Professor, is running as an Independent for president after withdrawing as a member of the Green Party in early 2024. Dr. West is a graduate of Harvard University Magna Cum Laude and is the first Black person to ever receive a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Princeton University, he claims.
West’s campaign revolves around “empowering the poor and working people”, his campaign site reads emphasizing “justice” for the environment, voters, education, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, immigration, race, health, workers, and the economy.
A brief note on President Biden’s State of the Union.#CornelWest2024 #truthjusticelove #SOTU pic.twitter.com/SMolodUnGO
— Cornel West (@CornelWest) March 9, 2024
West aims to abolish poverty, homelessness, break up monopolies and bring an “end to Wall Street”, bring a Green Reconstructive Initiative for environmental preservation, codify abortion rights as Constitutional mandates, end the war on drugs, end mass incarceration and create a plan to pay back the “unpaid debt to U.S. Black Americans”, establish free college education and cancel al student debt, put an end to Cop City and “school-to-prison pipeline” by removing police and school resource officers from schools, increase funding for Historic Black Colleges and Universities, slash the “bloated military budget” and “dismantle the U.S. empire.”
As of March 11, West’s campaign has raised $0.8 million according to the Federal Election Commission.
Libertarian Party
As of March 2024, 34 Libertarian candidates have registered with the FEC to run for president although the Libertarian Party has yet to announce an official nomination. That announcement is expected to take place at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington D.C. on May 24 through 26.
As the Party of Principle, the Libertarian Party has an extensive platform that spells out exactly what we stand for.
If you've ever had any questions about what Libertarians believe, you can find the answers here…
PREAMBLE:
As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty: a… pic.twitter.com/ThgoXFAIR3
— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) March 5, 2024
Additionally, Robert F. Kennedy, currently running as an Independent, has expressed interest in becoming the Libertarian nominee. Joe Exotic, the eponymous star of Netflix’s documentary series Tiger King, also registered to run as a Libertarian candidate but withdrew from the race prior to the primaries.
Of the 34 registered Libertarian candidates the following list contains those who have participated in at least three Libertarian-sponsored debates or have gained widespread recognition either by media presence or otherwise.
Charles Ballay, an otolaryngologist out of Louisiana who has currently won a single contest and won 72.6% of the popular vote.
Jacob Hornberger, Founder and President of the Future of Freedom Foundation who ran as an independent for U.S. Senator from Virginia in 2002, and previously ran for president in 2000 and 2020.
Lars Mapstead, Co-Founder of Friend Finder Networks, out of California.
Chase Oliver, nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgie in 2022, candidate for Representative of Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in 2020, and Chair of the Atlanta Libertarian Party from 2016 through 2017.
Art Olivier, nominee for U.S. Vice President in 2000, nominee for Governor of California in 2006, and Mayor of Bellflower, California, from 1998 to 1999.
Michael Rectenwald, author and former New York University professor, out of Pennsylvania.
Joshua Smith, Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee from 2022 through 2023, out of Iowa.
Mike ter Maat, economic, former Florida police officer, and nominee for Representative of Florida’s 20th congressional district in 2022.
No Labels Party
In addition to the list of independent and third-party movements with registered candidates seeking presidency, the No Labels Party is making a comeback in the 2024 presidential election but has not yet declared a nominee.
The No Labels Party was founded in 2010 with the slogan “not left, not right, forward,” with an emphasis on “common sense” beliefs borrowing the phrase from revolutionary Thomas Paine’s 1776 work of the same name. The party, at its core, believes in addressing issues with “what’s best for the country” rather than subscribing to a particular political party, which are dominated by “angry and extremist voices driven by ideology,” its most recent pamphlet states.
Over the last decade the No Labels Party has published a “policy book” every year, from its inception in 2010 through its latest installment published in 2023, highlighting its policies and beliefs in, roughly, 70-page installments.
These beliefs center around gaining control of the country’s borders, maintaining fiscal responsibility, cutting healthcare costs, every child having the right to an education and food, building clean energy tools for cleaner energy, maintaining a powerful military, upholding free speech, striking a “balance” between protecting women’s rights and “our society’s responsibility to protect human life,” supporting small businesses, and building more homes to stabilize housing affordability. At the top of this list, as the party’s number one priority, is public safety highlighting community policing and a right to bear arms while also preventing criminals from accessing them.
While the No Labels Party has yet to declare an official nominee, as of the publication of this article, ABC News reported on March 8 that former Georgia GOP Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan may be in the run for its presidential candidate. However, neither ABC News, nor the Lynnwood Times, could confirm whether this is the case or mere conjecture.
