Third Party Candidates for the President of the United States

By Alma Wolf
With horror, surprise, elation, and fascination the public has watched as Hillary Clinton and
Donald Trumps race for President of the United States shifted away from ordinary and towards
the unprecedented territory of outrageous.
The candidates have sparred during three headline-producing debates, insulted each other over
Twitter, and disagreed on nearly every issue imaginable. As November 8th draws near, many
American citizens have found themselves panicking over which presidential candidate deserves
their vote. Although Clinton and Trump are the most well-known candidates, there are many
other candidates on the ballot in most states. In 2016, there are 22 presidential candidates on
Colorados ballot. Some of these names are less known, but this years candidates for the Green
and Libertarian parties have received a fair amount of attention. However, it can be tough to sort
fact from fiction when weighing these politicians qualifications. Presented below are summaries
of their education and early life, political experience, and positions on national issues so that
voters have crucial information when making a decision that will shape the future of our country.
To learn about the candidates positions on more issues, visit
http://www.npr.org/2016/10/18/496926243/from-the-economy-to-race-see-where-the-candidates
-stand-on-the-big-issues#immigration
Jill Stein
Party: Green
Running Mate: Ajamu Baraka
Age: 66
Biography
Jill Ellen Stein was born on May 14, 1960 in
Chicago, Illinois. She was raised by her parents,
Gladys and Joseph Stein, in Highland Park, Illinois.
Her parents raised her in Reform Judaism; she went
to Sunday school every week for 10 years. Now,
she considers herself culturally Jewish and does
not attend Synagogue, but her family and lifestyle
have also led her to be agnostic (neither confirms nor denies the existence of God).
In 1973,

she graduated magna cum laude (a title meaning with great distinction) from Harvard
University, and then attended Harvard Medical School until 1979. She also taught internal

medicine there for decades. She is still a physician and lives in Lexington, Massachusetts. Her
husband, Richard Rohrer, is also a practicing physician and they have two sons that have both
attended medical school. According to her campaigns website, Jill enjoys writing and
performing music, and enjoys long walks with her Great Dane, Bandita.

Political Experience and Background

Stein first realized the link between toxins and poor health while working as a practicing
physician in the 1990s. She began volunteering as an activist for a range of groups, combating
racism in regards to health and access. She has also become a major advocate for campaign
finance reform. Stein is an active voice in her community for many environmental causes; she
has:
Lead a fight to clean up the Filthy Five coal plants in Massachusetts
Helped to close a toxic medical waste incinerator in one of the poorest communities in
New England
Served on the board of directors for Physicians for Social Responsibility
Rewrote fish advisories in MA to help protect minorities from mercury contamination
Founded a recycling committee in Lexington
Co-founded the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities
Co-authored

of In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development, published in 2000,

and Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging, published in 2009
Stein worked to pass the Clean Election Law, which would allow for taxpayer money to finance
political campaigns, as long as candidates upheld strict spending limits. It originally passed, but
was then repealed. Stein also helped pass the ballot initiative in Massachusetts called Secure
Green Future which moved subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
In 2002, Stein ran for the office of Massachusetts Governor, but lost to Republican Mitt
Romney. Since her foray into politics, she has said Im now practicing political medicine
because politics is the mother of all illnesses.
Stein has run for, but not won, several other elected offices, including State Representative
where she came in second, ahead of the Republican candidate, and Secretary of State where she
earned about 350,000 votes. In 2012, she ran for the President of the United States. She came in
4th, receiving 0.36% of the popular vote. She was elected, twice, to the Town Meeting in her
hometown of Lexington, MA.
Policy Positions
Jill Steins platform centers around her Green New Deal. This includes halting climate change,
which she calls the greatest threat to humanity in our history, transitioning completely to
renewable energy, and creating jobs. On Steins website, she emphasizes investing in public

transit, sustainable agriculture, conservation and restoration of critical infrastructure, including

ecosystems. To read more about her platform, go to http://www.jill2016.com/platform
Steins website also discusses her positions on a number of issues that are facing our country.
Below are summaries of her positions on seven of these issues.
Health Care: Stein believes that the Affordable Care Act was designed to serve the health
insurance and pharmaceutical industries. She thinks that it should be reformed and upgraded to
implement a single-payer healthcare system, which means that the government is entirely
responsible for financing health care but private entities provide services. Everyone would be
included in this new program, regardless of pre-existing conditions or medical history. There
would also be no co-pays, premiums, or deductibles. Stein also believes that abortion is a
womans right, and women should have unrestricted access to contraceptive care.
Education: Stein believes that all education should be a right, from preschool through college,
regardless of ones ability to pay. She would like to get rid of student debt. Stein also emphasizes
the ineffectiveness of standardized testing and using it to reward funding and teacher salaries.
She believes that the Common Core standards should be replaced with standards developed by
educators and members of a schools community.
Economy: Stein believes that the minimum wage should be $15 per hour and that we should
break up too-big-to-fail banks. She also supports democratizing the Federal Reserve. She
believes that there is a gender pay gap, and she wants to reduce taxes on low and middle income
citizens.
Criminal Justice: Steins criminal justice reforms are largely centered around police force
training and management. She would like to establish police review boards so communities can
control their police, instead of the other way around. Stein also supports police training on
de-escalating mental health crises, restorative justice and conflict resolution, mental health
self-checks and privilege and bias self-checks. She also wants to end the war on drugs and
replace it with harm-reduction. Stein supports decriminalizing marijuana.
Gun Control: Stein is not extremely clear regarding her positions on gun control, but she has
said that she supports banning assault weapons. She also criticized Congresss actions when they
neglected to pass minimal measures for gun control.
Immigration: Stein supports immigrant rights, and she wants to create a welcoming path to
citizenship for immigrants. She believes that all border crossings throughout North America
should be demilitarized. She also wants to improve economic and social conditions abroad to

reduce the flow of immigrant refugees [to the U.S.]. Stein does not support deportation of
law-abiding undocumented immigrants. She think that the U.S. should take a more aggressive
stance in providing aid for refugees.
Foreign Affairs: Stein proposes the reduction of military spending by 50% and closing foreign
military bases. She wants to establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law,
human rights, and nonviolent support for democratic movements around the world. She
supports global nuclear disarmament, and she would pledge to prohibit further testing and
development of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Stein wants to end wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
entirely. She supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Middle East, and ending
military and economic support for the Israeli government while it is committing war crimes and
defying international law. The Green Party and Steins campaign have also endorsed the BDS
(Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement which works to end international support for
Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.

What is the Green Party?

The Green Party of The United States is an independent political party that is connected to
American social movements, and is part of a global Green movement that shares key values,
including our Four Pillars: Peace and Nonviolence, Ecological Wisdom, Grassroots
Democracy, and Social Justice, and our Ten Key Values.
To read more, go to http://www.gp.org/
Gary Johnson
Party: Libertarian
Running Mate: William Weld
Age: 63
Biography
Gary Earl Johnson was born to Earl and Lorraine Johnson
on January 1, 1953 in Minot, North Dakota. He was raised
in the Lutheran faith. Johnson graduated from Sandia
High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1971, then
attended the University of New Mexico. He graduated
with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science.
Johnson was a registered Republican until 2011, when he
became Libertarian.

Johnson has also had an impressive athletic career. He describes himself as an avid skier,
adventurer, ironman, and bicyclist. He has completed dozens of marathons, triathlons, and bike
races. He has climbed all of the Seven Summits (the tallest peak on each of the seven
continents), which include Mount Everest. He currently resides in Taos, New Mexico, and trains
two to three hours a day when he is not campaigning.
Political Experience and Background
To pay for college, Johnson started his own handyman company. His business was called Big J
Enterprises, and it grew from one employee to over 1,000. It is now one of the biggest
construction companies in New Mexico. Johnson sold it in 1999 for $10 million.
Johnson has served as the CEO for a company called Cannabis Sativa, which brands and
markets the highest quality, legal cannabis products.
In 1994, Johnson ran for Governor of New Mexico. He won by a margin of over 10%, and was
reelected in 1998. During his eight years as governor, he worked very hard to reduce taxes and
cut government spending. On his website, it says he also cut taxes 14 times while never raising
them. He balanced the states budget, and left New Mexico with a billion-dollar surplus. He is
also well known for the amount of bills that he vetoed, over 40% were vetoed altogether and he
used the line item veto to edit many of the others. He also worked on a voucher program for
private and parochial schools. His colleagues in New Mexico legislature described him as
honest, precise, to the point, and generally quite different from their previous governor.
However, The Washington Post reports that those who worked closely with Governor
Johnson...recall a chief executive who would speed through meetings and often preferred to
discuss his fitness routine than focus on the minutiae of policymaking.
After his last term as governor, he told reason.com: No politics in my future. I have effectively
pulled the pin on my political career with my stance on drugs, and I recognize that up front.
However, it seems that he changed his mind as he was the Libertarian Partys nominee for
president in 2012. He received 0.99% of the popular vote that year, coming in third.
Policy Positions
Because Gov. Johnson is a former Republican, his policies are comparable to those of
right-leaning constituents. Similar to Jill Stein, his website contains a comprehensive outline of
his stance on numerous issues facing our country. Seven of the topics are summarized below. To
learn more about his campaign and policy positions, visit https://www.johnsonweld.com/issues
Health Care: In regards to abortion, Gov. Johnson himself is pro-life but he believes that such
a very personal and individual decision is best left to women and families, not the government.

He supports funding for Planned Parenthood. He strongly believes that Medicare costs need to be
cut, calling the system absolutely not sustainable. If elected president, he would most likely
attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act, as he believes that the current system will cause the
government to collapse. He is very supportive of the movement to decriminalize marijuana, and
he worked on this when he was governor of New Mexico. He believes that the War on Drugs
was not an effective movement, instead stating that drug rehabilitation and harm-reduction
programs result in a more productive society than incarceration and arrests for drug use.
Education: Similar to other popular candidates in this presidential race, Gov. Johnson supports
reducing the number of standardized tests. He also believes that decisions about education and
school standards should be made by local and state governments that are closer to home. Gov.
Johnson believes that we should eliminate the federal Department of Education, so that
bureaucracy and politics do not get in the way of educating our children. He would also like to
eliminate the Common Core standards. Johnson worked hard as Governor of New Mexico to
implement a school voucher program, although his numerous attempts were not successful. He
supports other programs that advocate for school choice.
Economy: Gov. Johnson does not believe that the minimum wage should be increased. In an
interview with HuffPost Live, he said, Having had my own business, having had 1,000
employees at one point, minimum wage was not an issue because we paid so much more than
minimum wage...Why not let the marketplace arrive at that [amount]? I just think minimum
wage is much to do about nothing. Additionally, Gov. Johnson does not believe that there is a
gender pay gap. He also has a new idea for the tax system, as his website states, Governor
Johnson advocates for...the replacement of all income and payroll taxes with a single
consumption tax that determines your tax burden by how much you spend, not how much you
earn. Such a tax would be structured to ensure that no ones tax burden for the purchase of basic
family necessities would be increased. Gov. Johnson was able to balance the state budget of
New Mexico, and he says that his first major action as President would be to submit a truly
balanced budget to Congress. He wants to cut wasteful spending and avoid increasing taxes.
Criminal Justice: Gov. Johnson is a strong proponent for the reparation of relationships
between law enforcement and citizens. He believes that we have too many unnecessary laws,
have produced a society with too many people in our prisons and jails, too many undeserving
individuals saddled with criminal records Gov. Johnson supports the decriminalization of
marijuana, and ending the war on drugs. While he was governor he supported the privatization of
prisons, saying that it would save the state money.
Gun Control: Overall, Gov. Johnson does not believe that the government should be overly
involved in important decisions in citizens lives. His website states, Gary Johnson believes that

people, not politicians, should make choices in their personal lives. Responsible adults should be
free to marry whom they want, arm themselves if they want, and lead their personal lives as they
see fit as long as they arent harming anyone else in doing so. He believes that everyone
should be able to possess guns, because it is our constitutional right. He does not want an assault
rifle ban, because he believes that the people who use assault weapons to harm others will still
have them, no matter what. He has said that he wants to keep guns out of the hands of the
mentally ill. In a video on his Youtube channel, he states, The founding fathers were very clear
on their thoughts on gun rights, and so am I...I strongly support the 2nd Amendment.
Immigration: As the governor of a border state, Johnson has dealt with the issue of immigration
before. He does not believe that we should increase border security, but instead make it easier to
become a legal citizen. His website states, instead of appealing to emotions and demonizing
immigrants, we should focus on creating a more efficient system of providing work visas,
conducting background checks, and incentivizing non-citizens to pay their taxes, obtain proof of
employment, and otherwise assimilate with our diverse society. He does not want to deport all
immigrants living in the country illegally, and he supports the decision to allow Syrian refugees
to come to the United States.
Foreign Affairs: As many voters have heard, Gov. Johnson has made a few mistakes regarding
foreign policy during his campaign. However, he has a very clear stance on foreign policy, as is
stated on his website: No Nation Building. No Policing the World. More Security Here at
Home. He wants to focus on the problems that we have in our country before trying to fix the
problems of others. Gov. Johnson believes that U.S. interference in the affairs of other countries
led to the rise of ISIS. He wants to repair relations with our allies. Gov. Johnson supports the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and he does not want to increase trade taxes. He believes that
we should withdraw all troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. Gov. Johnson does not support the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, although he doesnt want the U.S. to interfere to prevent it. In
the case of the Israel/Palestine conflict, he supports our alliance with Israel but does not believe
we should interfere any further.
What is the Libertarian Party?
According to their website, Libertarians strongly oppose any government interference into their
personal, family, and business decisions. Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to
live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another.
To learn more, visit https://www.lp.org/
What are the effects of voting for a third party candidate?
There are two recent examples of third party candidates who were extremely popular and
impacted the presidential race.

In 1992, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were running for the Republican and Democratic
parties, respectively. Ross Perot was an Independent candidate who was very popular.
Comparisons can be drawn between Perot and Donald Trump; both are businessmen with limited
political experience. Although Clinton won, Perot received 18.9% of the popular vote albeit no
electoral votes. This is the most votes that any third party candidate has received since 1912.
In 2000, George W. Bush was running on the Republican Ticket and Al Gore was running on the
Democratic Ticket. Ralph Nader was another highly popular third party candidate, running as the
Green Party nominee. Bush won, but Nader received 2.74% of the popular vote. This doesnt
seem significant, except there has been much controversy over whether or not he was a spoiler
that caused Al Gore to lose the election. In Florida, Bush defeated Gore by just over 500 votes.
Nader received over 90,000 votes. There are many differing opinions on whether less votes for
Nader would have changed the outcome of the election, but studies have concluded that he did
not do this intentionally. However, Naders campaign did play a role in Bushs win. Barry C.
Burden of Harvard wrote a paper titled Ralph Naders Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U.S.
Presidential Election. He writes, Ralph Nader stands as perhaps the most consequential minor
party presidential candidate in nearly a century. His meager 2.7% of the popular vote is not
among the largest third-party showings by a long shot, but he nonetheless played a pivotal role in
determining who would become president following the 2000 election...Though the media in the
aftermath focused on ballot design and other administrative issues, it is now clear that Nader held
the election in his hands. His absence from the campaign would have allowed Gore to win not
only the popular vote but the Electoral College and the presidency.
Although Perot and Nader both majorly affected their respective races, the 2016 Presidential
Race is a very different story. According to political-analyst site FiveThirtyEights national
average of all the polls, on November 2, 2016 Hillary Clinton was polling with 45.1% of the
popular vote, Donald Trump with 42.0%, and Gary Johnson with 4.6%. FiveThirtyEight predicts
that Clinton has a 67.6% chance of winning the presidency, and this number changes when new
data is available (based on national polls for November 2, 2016.). At this point, it does not
appear that the race will be extremely close like it was in Florida in 2000.
However, where you live and vote can have big effect. Some states are majorly
Republican--Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah--and some are primarily Democratic--California,
Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut. There are certain U.S. States called swing or
battleground states. This nickname means that there are similarly-sized populations of Democrats
and Republicans residing in the state. Their electoral college votes could swing either way. Some
swing states include Florida, Nevada, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Colorado. Often, a lot of energy

and special attention is paid to these states when campaigning. Winning a majority of swing
states could cause a candidate to win the election.
One third-party candidate that is fairly popular is Evan McMullin. He was born in Utah and
moved to Washington state, but he returned to attend Brigham Young University in Salt Lake
City. McMullin was a registered Republican, yet he is now running as an unaffiliated candidate.
He has a lot of support in Utah, which has a major population of Republicans. If McMullin
receives enough votes in precincts across Utah, he could win their six electoral college votes
(although this is highly improbable). These votes would otherwise be awarded to Donald Trump,
so a victory for McMullin in Utah would not be beneficial for Trump. The voters in Utah could
potentially have a major effect on the outcome of the election.