The year 2024 looks to be gearing up to be an unprecedented election cycle.
The country is bitterly divided, the frontrunning GOP candidate is facing 91 federal charges in four indictments, and President Biden has record low favorability ratings and is in questionable health.
Adding even more color to the mix is the potential of several third-party candidates entering the race. The leading contenders not presented in any particular order are:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would run as an independent.
Cornel West would run as an independent.
Jill Stein would represent the Green Party. Stein has officially launched her candidacy.
Sen. Joe Manchin could run as an independent, libertarian or as a candidate of the new No Labels organization.
Most political analysts note that a third-party candidate would likely hurt the Democrats more than the Republicans. However, though Biden has stated his running mate would be Kamala Harris, most pundits believe the president would improve his chances of winning if he paired up with one of the stronger third party candidates.
Third-party candidates appear to have significant and growing traction this election cycle. Kennedy polls in the double digits — higher than DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy poll in their party.
The Daily Caller reported that Cornel West already has enough support to sway the election.
A recent Stack Data Strategy survey showed that if Kennedy was in the race, Nevada’s six electoral votes would shift from Biden to Trump and Trump would win the election, according to Politico.
The Daily Caller previously reported that multiple recent surveys found that Kennedy would receive between 14% to 26% of the vote in a three-way race. Analysts speculate that Kennedy would pull more votes from Biden than from Trump but that in a three-way matchup with Trump, Biden and Manchin, the senator would pull even more votes from Biden.
Nathan Klein, pollster for OnMessage Inc., told the Daily Caller: “It is key to remember that the 2016 election was essentially decided by the ‘dislike both’ crosstab. That is people who were unfavorable toward both President Trump and Hillary Clinton.”
Klein added: “This year we have a broad range of third-party choices for those people to consider; with Biden’s disapproval at 55%+ these types of voters are likely to pick a third-party candidate or simply stay home.”
“Both dynamics favor President Trump,” Klein continued, “because his base is so loyal to him, whereas Biden’s coalition was a ‘maybe try something different’ group the last time around. This election, ‘something different’ is most likely to bleed from the guy who WAS something different last time but is now a known quantity.”
Kyle Kondik, a political analyst and managing editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told the Daily Caller: “A long list of potential third party candidates paired with two unpopular major party frontrunners is a good recipe for increased third party presidential voting in 2024.”
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