Third-party and independent candidates for the 2024 United States presidential election

This article lists third party and independent candidates, also jointly known as minor candidates, associated with the 2024 United States presidential election.
"Third party" is a term commonly used in the United States in reference to political parties other than the Democratic and Republican parties. An independent candidate is one not affiliated with any political party.
24 candidates were listed on the ballot in at least one state and over 100 candidates were registered as a write-in candidate in at least one state.
Third-party and independent candidates received 2.13% of the vote in the 2024 election, totaling over three million votes. This is slightly more than the 2020 United States presidential election, when third party candidates received 1.86%.
Green Party nominee Jill Stein received the most votes of any third-party candidate, receiving 868,945 votes (0.56%). She received 1.09% of the vote in Maryland, her best state by percentage. Stein also received over one percent of the vote in Maine and California. This was also the first election since 2000 that the Green Party finished third nationwide, and the first since 2008 that the Libertarian Party failed to.
Withdrawn independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received 757,371 votes (0.49%). Kennedy's 1.96% in Montana was the highest statewide vote share of any third-party candidate. Kennedy also received over one percent of the vote in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.
Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver received 650,120 votes (0.42%). He was the only third-party candidate to be on the ballot or a registered write-in candidate in every state + D.C. Oliver received 1.69% in North Dakota, his best state by percentage. Oliver also received over one percent of the vote in Utah and Wyoming.
No other candidate reached one percent of the vote in any state. "None of these candidates" received 19,625 votes (1.32%) in Nevada.
Party for Socialism and Liberation nominee, Claudia De la Cruz received 167,772 votes (0.11%). De la Cruz nearly doubled the PSL's 2020 total, and won the most votes received by a candidate running on an explicitly socialist presidential ticket since the Socialist Party's Norman Thomas in 1936.
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The following general election candidates had ballot access to at least 270 electoral votes (EV), the minimum number required to win the electoral college. Ballot access deadlines vary from state to state.
The following candidates had either ballot or write-in access to more than 270 electoral votes (EV), the minimum number required to attain the presidency.
The following general election candidates had ballot access to fewer than 270 electoral votes, the minimum number required to attain the presidency.
Parties and candidates in this section did not attain ballot access in any states, yet were running as declared write-ins in various states.
Notable independents:
The Libertarian Party participated in multiple non-binding preference primaries in this election cycle. The party's presidential and vice presidential nominees were chosen directly by delegates at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, held on Memorial Day weekend from May 24 to 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Prior to the LP 2024 National Convention, 38 candidates filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination in 2024.
This section includes candidates who filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission with intent to run under the Libertarian Party and who met one or more of the following criteria: a) meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines; b) participated in at least three Libertarian Party-sponsored debates; or c) received non-trivial media coverage as a candidate in this election cycle.
The Green Party held a series of presidential primaries through which convention delegates were awarded to candidates and nominated the party's presidential ticket at the 2024 Green National Convention, which took place as a virtual event from August 15 to 18, 2024.
The individuals listed below are declared candidates who have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission with intent to run under the Green Party and who meet one or more of the following criteria: a) meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines; b) have participated (or have been invited to participate) in at least two Green Party-sponsored debates or c) have received non-trivial media coverage as a candidate in this election cycle.
The Constitution Party held its presidential nominating convention on April 24–27, 2024, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Eight candidates sought the nomination:
Jim Harvey of Georgia (who ultimately did not seek the nomination), Joel Skousen, and Randall Terry participated in an April 6 debate in Dearborn, Michigan.
Terry won the nomination by securing a majority in the first round. The votes largely broke down along geographic lines. Skousen, who is from Utah, received all 61 votes from the delegations of the Four Corners states, but only 19 votes from the rest of the country combined. The only state delegations he carried outside of the region were New Hampshire and West Virginia. Venable won the majority of votes from South Carolina and his home state of Missouri and Daniel Cummings won a plurality in his home state of Wyoming. The remaining ten delegations were all won by Terry.
Pastor and political commentator Stephen Broden, who was running on a ticket with Terry, received the vice presidential nomination via voice vote.
Aside from the presidential nomination, much of the debate at the convention focused on an ultimately defeated amendment by Skousen to remove references to God from the party platform.
The Constitution Party received 60,023 votes in the 2020 election.
The Nevada, Utah and Idaho state parties split from the national party and nominated Skousen.
The American Independent Party held a non-binding presidential preference primary in California on March 5, 2024. James Bradley was the only candidate listed on the ballot and defeated Andrew George Rummel, who was a recognized write-in candidate.
On April 29, 2024, the party announced that it had nominated independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party held its first-ever presidential nomination primary in Minnesota on Super Tuesday, March 5. This was the first presidential primary to be held in Minnesota for a third party since 1916. Krystal Gabel withdrew from the race during Legal Marijuana Now Party's candidate filing discussions. When Gabel asked to be removed from the ballot, after early voting had started on January 19, 2024, the Minnesota Secretary of State's office stated that changes cannot be made to the list of candidates after the list was certified 63 days prior to the election, and Gabel's name remained on ballots.
Five candidates appeared on the ballot:
Of Minnesota's three major political parties, all of which included a write in option for their 2024 nominating primaries, only the Legal Marijuana Now party submitted to the Secretary of State a write in name to be counted, singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Minnesota presidential delegates to the national party convention were awarded proportionally based on the primary results.
Gabel won a plurality of the vote (28.8%), but withdrew ahead of the primary. Of declared candidates, Richfield, Minnesota businessman Dennis Schuller finished in the lead, with 17.4%. At the state convention in Caledonia on May 8, Minnesota presidential delegates to the national Legal Marijuana Now convention were awarded proportionally based on the primary results. However, the party lost automatic ballot access in a May 2024 ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court, meaning party officials and candidates would have to petition for ballot access.
The party was also ballot-qualified in Nebraska, but no candidates qualified for the May 14 primary. Instead, the state affiliate party nominated Cornel West. Because Minnesota is a more populous state than Nebraska, Minnesota LMNP delegates to the national convention that were pledged to Schuller and California archeologist Rudy Reyes outnumbered the entire Nebraska delegation which voted unanimously for West. At the July 6 national convention held in Bloomington, Minnesota, Schuller and running mate Reyes were nominated for the presidential ticket. The 2024 LMNP write-in campaign was certified in several states.
The Peace and Freedom Party held a non-binding preference primary in California on Super Tuesday, March 5. Claudia De la Cruz, the nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, won the primary with a plurality, defeating Jasmine Sherman and Cornel West. The party's presidential nominee, chosen by the state central committee in August, is Claudia De la Cruz.
The American Solidarity Party announced on June 2, 2023, that Peter Sonski had won their party's online primary, which lasted from May 24 to June 1. Sonski was nominated in the first round of ranked-choice voting with 52%. Sonski then selected Lauren Onak as his vice president, who was then officially nominated via unanimous consent.
The Approval Voting Party received 409 votes for president in 2020. It was only ballot-approved in Colorado. On March 16, the party nominated Blake Huber for president and Andrea Denault for vice president.
The Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party is a regional ballot-qualified party in Vermont which has regularly nominated candidates for president since 1972. It nominated Gloria La Riva, the PSL nominee, in 2020. She received 166 votes in Vermont. On April 28, the party nominated independent candidate Cornel West for president.
The Michigan Natural Law Party held its nominating convention on April 17, 2024, where it nominated independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for President and Nicole Shanahan for Vice President. Party chairman Doug Dern claimed fellow independent candidate Cornel West also sought the party's ballot access. Kennedy later attempted to remove his name from the ballot in Michigan, but was blocked in courts.
In 2020, the Michigan party nominated Alliance Party nominee Rocky De La Fuente, who received 2,986 votes in Michigan.
The party was also presidential ballot-qualified in Florida. The Florida party did not nominate a candidate in the 2020 or the 2024 election.
The Prohibition Party held its presidential nominating convention on May 8–9, 2023, in Buffalo, New York. Three candidates stood for nomination; Michael Wood was nominated on the first ballot.
The Bill Hammons-led faction of the Unity Party of America nominated Paul Noel Fiorino and Matthew May for president and vice president respectively at the 7th United National Convention over Google Meet on April 6, 2024.
However, the Colorado faction of the party, which was the only state party with ballot access, met on April 13, 2024, and nominated independent candidate Cornel West for president and his running mate, Melina Abdullah for vice president.
Withdrew before convention:
The party was only ballot-approved in Colorado. In 2020, party co-founder Bill Hammons was on the ballot in three states and received 6,647 votes.
The Alliance Party received 88,236 votes for president in 2020. It and its affiliates were ballot-qualified in Alaska, Connecticut, and South Carolina.
The Alliance Party of South Carolina nominated Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for its ballot line, but he later withdrew his name from the ballot in South Carolina.
The Green Party of Alaska is unaffiliated with the Green Party of the United States and was not ballot-qualified in Alaska. The party nominated Jesse Ventura for president in 2020 and received 2,673 votes.
Jasmine Sherman and Tanda BluBear were nominated for president and vice president, respectively.
The party hosted a series of debates featuring the following candidates seeking the nomination:
The Liberal Party, formerly the Association of State Liberty Parties, has qualified state parties in Massachusetts and New Mexico which were, until 2022, affiliated with the national Libertarian Party. These parties received a combined 59,598 votes in 2020.
The Libertarian Association of Massachusetts provided its ballot line to the national Libertarian Party nominees, Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat. The Libertarian Party of New Mexico ran Laura Ebke and Trisha Butler, the Liberal Party Chair on its ballot line, without any campaign.
The Cascade Party petitioned to place Krist Novoselić and James Carroll on the ballot in Washington, as that is a requirement to gain state recognition of a new party. Novoselić later withdrew his name from the ballot.
The following individuals had declined to be candidates for the No Labels unity ticket. On April 4, 2024, the organization announced it would not run a presidential campaign.
The following notable individuals were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacies, but had publicly denied interest in running.
The Free & Equal Elections Foundation hosted a multiparty debate on February 29, 2024, in New York City, New York moderated by Caitlin Sinclair, Jason Palmer and Christina Tobin. Socialism and Liberation nominee Claudia De la Cruz, Libertarian candidates Chase Oliver and Lars Mapstead, and Green candidates Jill Stein and Jasmine Sherman attended. Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West were also invited but did not attend.
Free and Equal hosted a second debate on July 12, 2024, at FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada moderated by the foundation's chair, Christina Tobin and congressman Thomas Massie.
Candidates invited to the debate were: Biden, Kennedy, Oliver, Stein, Terry, Trump, and West. Oliver, Stein, and Terry participated.
A third debate was scheduled for September 18 in Los Angeles, but it was cancelled and rescheduled for October. Oliver, Stein, and Terry participated in the October 23 debate.
The Muslim Civic Coalition hosted a forum featuring Jill Stein and Cornel West on February 3 in Oak Brook, Illinois. The organization claimed all presidential candidates were invited to attend.
The Abandon Biden movement held an online forum on June 13 featuring Jill Stein, Cornel West, and Claudia de la Cruz focused on promoting "pro-Palestine" candidates for President.
This table will only include polling aggregates that track at least one third-party candidate.