Spoiler alert: Third-party candidates poised to shake up key Senate races
Election Day is here, and the third-party groups that may soon be the key players in Senate races are gearing up to make their own bids for political prominence.
The main players are candidates who have already run in the past, but either have been suspended from the ballot, like the Green Party’s Jill Stein, or have filed to run as an independent or as someone who has broken party lines, like Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson or Libertarian Party nominee Charles McPherson.
“I feel like a lot of independents are looking for a reason to run,” Johnson said, adding that he hasn’t been formally accepted by any of the major third-party groups. “This is a fun time to do it for a little bit longer.”
Other candidates who have already run, like Libertarian nominee Charles McPherson, or independent candidate Gary Johnson, have been suspended from the ballot, making their races “post-facto” elections as they make their case for their parties.
But Johnson and Stein are hoping to play a full-time role and run for president, while McPherson and Stein have vowed to run for Congress.
Stein has already filed one lawsuit, asking a Federal District Court in Wisconsin to declare her on the ballot. Johnson filed his last week, and McPherson’s announcement was expected some time Friday.
Third-party candidates face long odds in the Electoral College – but when there are no official candidates in the race, and those who claim they’re independents are actually part of a major party, they can still play a pivotal role on the path to the White House.
McPherson, who says his campaign will support Johnson and Stein, is the only declared Independent Presidential candidate in 2014.
He will not be making an official run for the Libertarian party’s presidential nomination until next year, but he said he believes he’s already the leading third-party candidate in the race.
“I’m a real estate developer and I’m running to be president in 2016,
