By Landon Dean 
Photo Credit: NBC News
In American electoral history, third parties typically make up a small percentage of the final tally of votes. With polls showing that as many as 63 percent of Americans agree on the need for a third party, it is not surprising this year may be one of the best cycles for third-party candidates. Third parties were expected to impact this year’s election, but Andrew Yang’s Forward Party decided not to run a candidate, giving room the field open for longtime candidate Jill Stein and newcomers such as Robert Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West to have an impact this cycle. With election day right around the corner, it’s time to look beyond the two main party candidates and look toward the main third-party candidates running this cycle and the effects their presence on the ballot will have on the final result.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the latest Kennedy to join the campaign trail. He earned support from voters dissatisfied with the two-party system. Throughout June and July, Kennedy polled as high as 10 percent nationally, according to polling from YouGov. Such a performance would have made him the best-performing third party since 1996 and would have qualified his party, We The People, for federal matching funds, granting the party public funding based on their performance in the popular vote. However, following Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race, Kennedy’s numbers began to fall as Democrat voters consolidated their support for Kamala Harris. On August 23rd, Kennedy suspended his campaign for president and endorsed Donald Trump, announcing he would attempt to remove himself from to ballots of several key swing states. While Kennedy could not remove himself from the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin, he could remove himself from the other swing state ballots. This, combined with his endorsement of Donald Trump, will likely be the biggest impact Kennedy has on the presidential race, as polling shows that his presence on the ballot harms Trump more than Harris.
Jill Stein of the Green Party has consistently polled at around 1 percent of the national popular vote. Stein, who has already made two presidential runs under the Green Party ticket, gained notable coverage in 2016 by being declared a spoiler by many in the media because the number of votes she received in critical states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan exceeded Donald Trump’s margin of victory. In 2024, Stein is once again on the ballot in all critical swing states except for Nevada, making Democratic leaders fearful that she could siphon critical votes from Harris’ campaign. Democratic leaders have labeled Stein as a spoiler in advertising in critical states, defying past practices of staying silent on third-party candidates. Democrats have cited her appearance at a 2015 event in Moscow, tying Stein to Russia. Nevertheless, Stein has the potential to attract voters in the swing states that are dissatisfied with the Biden/Harris administration over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A poll conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations showed Stein and Harris statistically tied with Muslim voters, a key constituency in battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin, which could impact the election outcome for Harris in these states on election day. The final consequential candidate is Justice for All candidate Cornel West. West, like Stein, has polled at approximately 1 percent of the national vote. West’s campaign has been defined by a platform of social and economic justice, advocating for a series of social and economic reforms. West has also made the ongoing war in Israel and Palestine the key issue of his campaign, with both him and his running mate, Melina Abdullah, criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the war. Abdullah herself put out a statement framing the attacks as “a desperate act of self-defense” and declined to answer if she condemned the attacks. With many Muslim Americans opposed to the Biden/Harris administration’s support for Israel, Cornel West’s stance on the issue could draw support from the Muslim American demographic, a critical voting bloc in key swing states. With West also on the ballot in critical states like Michigan and Wisconsin, worries of West as a potential spoiler have only grown in Democratic circles, as Republican operatives have aided West in helping him gain ballot access in key states, hoping he will draw voters away from Harris. Although the West campaign has recently faced financial challenges with financial difficulties, reportedly being 17,000 dollars in debt by the end of June, and although West himself has pulled back on campaigning, his support among leftists and Muslim-Americans could be significant enough to swing the election in crucial swing states.