This article contains statistics on third-party and independent performances in US elections and a list of pages containing lists of those elections.
Lists of third-party and independent performances in United States elections List of third-party and independent performances in United States presidential elections List of third-party and independent performances in United States gubernatorial elections List of third-party and independent performances in United States Senate elections List of third-party and independent performances in United States House elections List of third-party and independent performances in United States state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Alaska state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Arkansas state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Colorado state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Hawaii state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Louisiana state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Montana state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Utah state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in West Virginia state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in Wyoming state legislative elections List of third-party and independent performances in United States mayoral elections
Notable performances Presidential elections The following are third party and independent candidates who received more than 10% of the total popular vote. YearPartyNomineeRunning mate# Votes% VotesElectoral VotesPlaceNotes1912ProgressiveTheodore RooseveltHiram Johnson4,120,6092nd1856AmericanMillard FillmoreAndrew J. Donelson872,7033rd1992IndependentRoss PerotJames Stockdale19,743,8211860Southern DemocraticJohn C. BreckinridgeJoseph Lane851,8442nd1924ProgressiveRobert M. La FolletteBurton K. Wheeler4,833,8213rd1968American IndependentGeorge WallaceCurtis LeMay9,901,1181860Constitutional UnionJohn BellEdward Everett590,9461848Free SoilMartin Van BurenCharles F. Adams291,475
Senate elections The following are third party and independent candidates who have won senate seats since 1970.
+ Notable third-party senatorial performances (1991–2020)YearStatePartyNominee# Votes% VotesPlaceNotes2024MaineIndependentAngus King427,279Re-electedVermontIndependentBernie Sanders229,429Re-elected2018MaineIndependentAngus King344,575Re-electedVermontIndependentBernie Sanders183,649Re-elected2012MaineIndependentAngus King370,580ElectedVermontIndependentBernie Sanders209,053Re-elected2010AlaskaRepublican (write-in)Lisa Murkowski101,091Re-electedLost Republican primary2006ConnecticutConnecticut for LiebermanJoe Lieberman564,095Re-electedLost Democratic primaryVermontIndependentBernie Sanders171,638Elected1976VirginiaIndependentHarry F. Byrd Jr.890,778Re-elected1970VirginiaIndependentHarry F. Byrd Jr.506,237Re-electedNew YorkConservativeJames L. Buckley2,288,190Elected
House elections The following are third party and independent candidates who have received more than 30% of the popular vote since 2008.
+ Notable third party House performances (2022) – 19 entriesYearDistrictPartyCandidate# Votes% VotesPlace2024Massachusetts 1IndependentNadia Milleron88,8422ndNevada 2IndependentGreg Kidd139,0952ndMassachusetts 2IndependentCornelius Shea87,8372ndNorth Carolina 6ConstitutionKevin Hayes103,2472nd2022North Dakota At-largeIndependentCara Mund89,6442ndTexas 26LibertarianMike Kolls81,2082nd2020Alaska At-largeIndependent/UndeclaredAlyse Galvin159,8562nd2018Alaska At-largeIndependent/UndeclaredAlyse Galvin109,6152nd2016Northern Mariana Islands At-largeIndependentGregorio Sablan10,605ElectedArizona 8GreenMark Salazar93,9542nd2014Northern Mariana Islands At-largeIndependentGregorio Sablan8,549Elected2012Puerto Rico At-largeNew ProgressivePedro Pierluisi905,066ElectedPopular DemocraticRafael Cox Alomar881,1812ndCalifornia 33IndependentBill Bloomfield146,6602ndKansas 3Joel Balam92,6752nd2008American Samoa At-large IndependentEni Faleomavaega7,498ElectedPuerto Rico At-largeNew ProgressivePedro Pierluisi1,010,285ElectedNew York 23ConservativeDoug Hoffman69,5532ndPuerto Rico At-largePopular DemocraticAlfredo Salazar Jr.810,0932ndAmerican Samoa At-largeIndependentAmata Coleman Radewagen4,3492nd
Gubernatorial elections The following are third party and independent candidates who have won governerships since 1990.
+ Notable third party gubernatorial performancesYearStatePartyNomineeRunning mate# Votes% VotesPlace2014AlaskaIndependentBill WalkerByron Mallott134,658ElectedRhode Island2010IndependentLincoln Chafee123,571Elected1998MaineIndependentAngus King246,772Re-electedMinnesotaReformJesse VenturaMae Schunk773,713Elected1994MaineIndependentAngus King180,829Elected1990AlaskaAlaskan IndependenceWally HickelJack Coghill75,721ElectedConnecticutA Connecticut PartyLowell WeickerEunice Groark460,576Elected
Other state constitutional offices This list includes state constitutional offices apart from governorships. This table shows candidates who have gotten at or more than 5% of the total vote. Candidates must run solely on a third party line to be included.
Lieutenant governors To be included in the table the candidate must run separately from the governor. YearStatePartyNominee# Votes% VotesPlace2022AlabamaLibertarianRuth Page-Nelson178,6602nd of 2Rhode IslandIndependentRoss McCurdy19,5073rd of 3
State attorneys general YearStatePartyNominee# Votes% VotesPlace2022NebraskaLegal Marijuana NowLarry Bolinger188,6492nd of 2OklahomaLibertarianLynda Steele281,9232nd of 22018IowaLibertarian (Write-in)Marco Battaglia262,1312nd of 22016UtahLibertarianAndrew McCullough73,9733rd of 4WashingtonJoshua Trumbull979,1052nd of 22014ArkansasAaron Cash43,2453rd of 3ColoradoDavid K. Williams120,7453rd of 3NevadaAmerican IndependentJonathan Hansen30,5133rd of 42012UtahLibertarianAndrew McCullough47,3473rd of 32008VermontVermont ProgressiveCharlotte Dennett17,7303rd of 42002VermontCindy Hill16,1523rd of 61974VermontLiberty UnionNancy Kaufman8,2963rd of 31965VirginiaConservative (Virginia)John W. Carter80,5423rd of 31954CaliforniaProhibitionEdwin M. Copper204,1712nd of 21942MinnesotaFarmer-Labor (Minnesota)David J. Erickson187,0742nd of 31940Minnesota284,3372nd of 31938MinnesotaWilliam Ervin378,385Lost re-election 2nd CaliforniaWrite-inCarl Kegley463,6822nd of 4TownsendWalter Emmett Barry231,9143rd of 41936MinnesotaFarmer-Labor (Minnesota)Harry H. Peterson530,815Reelected1934Minnesota436,140ReelectedCaliforniaProhibitionErrol O. Shour396,8522nd of 21932MinnesotaFarmer-Labor (Minnesota)Harry H. Peterson379,418Elected1924ColoradoFarmer-LaborBertram B. Beshoar17,2003rd of 51914VermontBull Moose (Progressive)Ernest W. Gibson7,1113rd of 5CaliforniaU. S. Webb639,804ElectedSocialistWalter R. Dunn96,6782nd of 3ProhibitionJames H. Blanchard81,2743rd of 31912VermontBull Moose (Progressive)Richard A. Hoar14,2143rd of 5
Statistics Note: Prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913, most states did not hold direct elections to the Senate.
Legend: 1st2nd3rd Elections with notable third party electoral performances (1900–present)The threshold is >5% of the vote.StateGubernatorial electionsSenate electionsTotal electionsThreshold reachedThreshold candidatesThird party victoryThreshold reachedThreshold candidatesThird party victoryThreshold reachedThreshold candidatesThird party victoryAlabama5604409100Alaska910266115163Arizona550711012160Arkansas1011066116171California8101911017211Colorado4604508110Connecticut79144111132Delaware220110330Florida331330661Georgia440220660Hawaii330220550Idaho1316045017210Illinois450220670Indiana240440680Iowa110110220Kansas78056012140Kentucky220000220Louisiana330220550Maine1318355218235Maryland110330440Massachusetts1010044014140Michigan220000220Minnesota2125519225404710Mississippi220440660Missouri110110220Nebraska1010145114152Nevada67278013152New Hampshire440110550New Jersey220000220New Mexico220110330New York1112088119201North Carolina110000110North Dakota781911116192Ohio340340680Oklahoma77033010100Oregon671914015201Pennsylvania330450780Rhode Island7901108100South Carolina000221221South Dakota79057012160Tennessee78044011120Texas912011010130Utah6703309100Vermont1111044315153Virginia4401418218222Washington78056012140West Virginia440000440Wisconsin182131215230365Wyoming220110330Total284327212032362148756342
See also List of third-party and independent United States governors List of United States major third party presidential tickets List of Libertarian Party politicians who have held office in the United States List of Green politicians who have held office in the United States List of Communist Party USA members who have held office in the United States List of Democratic Socialists of America public officeholders
Notes and references