Third-party and independent candidates for the 2016 United States presidential election

This article contains lists of official and potential third-party and independent candidates associated with the 2016 United States presidential election.

"Third party" is a term commonly used in the United States in reference to political parties other than the two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. An independent candidate is one who runs for office with no formal party affiliation.

Ballot access in states holding 270 or more electoral votes represents a majority of the 538 electoral votes in the Electoral College. The number of electoral votes for which a party or independent candidate has secured ballot access may increase as those parties or candidates complete their petitions, and filings for ballot access, until September 2016 when the last petition deadlines occur.

According to the Green Papers website, 31 people were on the ballot in at least one state, while 192, including those who were on ballots in some states, obtained recognition as official write-in candidates.

Summary On the ballot in every state, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson received 4,489,221 total votes, about 3.3% of ballots cast, the most for any third- party candidate. By votes cast, Johnson performed best in California where he received 478,500 votes. By percentage, Johnson performed best in his home state of New Mexico where he received about 9.3% of the vote. Johnson received more than 5% of the vote in Maine, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Alaska and North Dakota.

Green Party nominee Jill Stein received 1,457,216 total votes, a little more than 1% of ballots cast, the second most for any third-party candidate. By votes cast, Stein also performed best in California where she received 278,657 votes. By percentage, Stein performed best in Hawaii where she received about 3% of the vote.

Despite being in third place among third-party candidates with only 731,788 total votes, Independent candidate Evan McMullin received 243,690 votes, 21.5% of the vote, in Utah. This was the highest percentage of votes for any third-party candidate in 2016 and the highest percentage for any third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1992. McMullin also received almost 7% of the vote in Idaho.

Constitution Party nominee Darrell Castle received 203,090 votes, the fourth most for any third-party candidate. Castle received more than 1% of the vote in Alaska and South Dakota.

Despite not officially running for President, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders received 111,850 write-in votes, the fifth most for any third-party candidate. Sanders received 18,183 write-in votes, about 6% of the vote, in his home state of Vermont.

In Nevada, None of these candidates received 28,863 votes, 2.5% of the states votes.

+2016 U.S. presidential election results for candidates that received at least 1000 votesStateHillary ClintonDonald TrumpGary JohnsonJill SteinEvan McMullinDarrell CastleBernie SandersGloria Rocky Richard DuncanDan VacekAlyson KennedyMike SmithChris KenistonMike MaturenLynn KahnJames HedgesTom HoeflingMonica MooreheadEmidio SoltysikLaurence KotlikoffPeter SkewesRocky GiordaniScott CopelandKyle KopitkeDemocraticRepublicanLibertarianGreenConstitutionPSLReformLegal Marijuana NowSocialist WorkersVeteransAmerican SolidarityProhibitionAmerica'sWorkers WorldSocialistAmericanIndependent AmericanConstitution Idaho 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425Alabama 729,547 1,318,255 44,467 9,391 Alaska 116,454 163,387 18,725 5,735 3,866 1,240 Arizona 1,161,167 1,252,401 106,327 34,345 17,449 1,058 29 62 85 52 Arkansas 380,494 684,872 29,949 9,473 13,176 4,613 3,3904,709 California 8,753,788 4,483,810 478,500 278,657 39,596 79,34166,101 1,316 402 Colorado 1,338,870 1,202,484 144,121 38,437 28,917 11,699 531 1,255 4521,8195,028 862 185 710 271 392 1,096Connecticut 897,572 673,215 48,676 22,841 2,108 147 41 12 12 31 23 4 Delaware 221,608 175,162 14,045 5,868 706 74 3 3 1 3 1 7 Florida 4,504,975 4,617,886 207,043 64,399 16,475 9,108 25 74 Georgia 1,877,963 2,089,104 125,306 7,674 13,017 1,110 53 151 70 34 Hawaii 266,891 128,847 15,954 12,737 4,508 Idaho*

189,765 409,055 28,331 8,496 46,476 4,403 1,373 1 9 35 21 3 2,356Illinois 3,090,729 2,146,015 209,596 76,802 11,655 1,138 175 82 Indiana 1,033,126 1,557,286 133,993 7,841 1,413 21 25 269 0 57 49 Iowa 653,669 800,983 59,186 11,479 12,366 5,355 323 451 2,246 2,247 Kansas 427,005 671,018 55,406 23,506 6,520 646 7 3 6 214 2 3 45 0 0 Kentucky 628,854 1,202,971 53,752 13,913 22,780 438 1,128 2 9 22 155 39 8 Louisiana 780,154 1,178,638 37,978 14,031 8,547 3,129 446 480 1,881 1,581 1,048 Maine 357,735 335,593 38,105 14,251 1,887 333 16 Maryland 1,677,928 943,169 79,605 35,945 9,630 566 48 14 18 13 504 18 5 42 6 73 Massachusetts 1,995,196 1,090,893 138,018 47,661 2,719 15 28 Michigan 2,268,839 2,279,543 172,136 51,463 8,177 16,139 517 95 302,209 87 Minnesota 1,367,716 1,322,951 112,972 36,985 53,076 9,456 12 1,431 111,291 1,672 3 31 244 28 15 17 Mississippi 485,131 700,714 14,435 3,731 3,987 644 715 Missouri 1,071,068 1,594,511 97,359 25,419 7,071 13,092 6 48 28 Montana 177,709 279,240 28,037 7,970 2,297 296 1,570 0 1 0 0 10 0 1 7 Nebraska 284,494 495,961 38,946 8,775 Nevada 539,260 512,058 37,384 5,268 2,552 New Hampshire 348,526 345,790 30,777 6,496 1,064 4,493 678 New Jersey 2,148,278 1,601,933 72,477 37,772 6,161 1,682 1,838 2,156 1,749 New Mexico 385,234 319,666 74,541 9,879 5,825 1,514 1,184 475 New York 4,665,740 3,078,946 174,951 106,995 10,397 801 147 30 84 409 72 127 65 34 North Carolina 2,189,316 2,362,631 130,126 12,105 North Dakota 93,758 216,794 21,434 3,780 1,833 364 Ohio 2,394,164 2,841,005 174,498 46,271 12,574 1,887 24,235 62 114 552 268 19 90 Oklahoma 420,375 949,136 83,481 Oregon 1,002,106 782,403 94,231 50,002 Pennsylvania 2,926,441 2,970,733 146,715 49,941 6,472 21,572 6,060 Rhode Island 252,525 180,543 14,746 6,220 773 52 3,497 8 671 6 34 7 South Carolina 855,373 1,155,389 49,204 13,034 21,016 5,765 3,246 South Dakota 117,458 227,721 20,850 4,064 Tennessee 870,695 1,522,925 70,397 15,993 11,991 1,584 4,075 2,8777,276 132 20 Texas 3,877,868 4,685,047 283,492 71,558 42,366 4,261 1,401 932 122 721,037 Utah 310,674 515,211 39,608 9,438243,690 8,032 872 521 544 2,732 Vermont 178,573 95,369 10,078 6,758 640 6318,218 327 1,063 0 0 2 1 3 19 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 00Virginia 1,981,473 1,769,443 118,274 27,638 54,054 Washington 1,539,287 1,063,835 134,096 46,872 14,565 2,779 3,583 Washington, D.C. 282,830 12,723 4,906 4,258 West Virginia 188,794 489,371 23,004 8,075 1,104 3,807 Wisconsin 1,382,536 1,405,284 106,674 31,072 11,855 12,162 1,502 67 284 801,770 33 15 Wyoming 55,973 174,419 13,287 2,515 2,042 709 TOTAL65,853,51662,984,8254,443,5051,457,216731,991199,354111,60973,63933,11724,30713,53711,7439,3217,2456,6975,7305,6174,8024,3144,0563,5873,2502,7322,3561,096

Candidates Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party

Ballot access: The Libertarian ticket was on all 51 ballots.

NamePrior positionsStateNominatedVice presidential nomineeGary Johnson(campaign)Governor of New Mexico, 1995–2003 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, 2012May 29, 2016Bill Weld of MassachusettsOther partiesNational totalNational percentageHighest single state totalHighest single state percentageIndependence Party of New York4,489,2213.3%402,452 (3.4%)California74,031 (9.3%)New Mexico

Nationally, Johnson captured 5 percent or more of the vote in eight states: New Mexico, North Dakota, Alaska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Maine.

Poll standings All major polling outfits included Johnson in their published results. His highest total was 13% in a CNN/ORC poll taken in July. After that he has generally was in the upper single digits, breaking 10% on October 10 in a Politico/Morning Consult poll.

Johnson's greatest statewide percentage was in his home state of New Mexico, where he reached the mid-twenties in September before falling back into the teens. He polled in the teens in several other states, most recently in a WBUR/MassINC poll taken in New Hampshire on November 1.

Party nomination contest

There were six primaries, Gary Johnson received 22,642 votes while none of the others received as much as 4,000. + Libertarian National Convention presidential vote, 2016 CandidateFirst ballotPercentageSecond ballotPercentage Gary Johnson 458 49.5% 518 55.8% Austin Petersen 197 21.3% 203 21.9% John McAfee 131 14.2% 131 14.1% Darryl W. Perry 63 6.8% 52 5.6% Marc Allan Feldman 58 6.3% 18 1.9% Kevin McCormick 91.0% 1 (write-in) 0.1% None of the above 5 0.5% 2 0.2% Ron Paul (write-in) 1 0.1% Vermin Supreme (write-in) 1 0.1% Heidi Zemen (write-in) 1 0.1% Derrick Grayson (write-in) 1 0.1% 1 0.1% Michael Shannon (write-in) 1 0.1% Rhett Smith (write-in) 1 0.1% Totals 928 100%

Jill Stein, Green Party

Ballot access (write-in included): 47 states + DC

NamePrior positionsStateNominatedVice presidential nomineeJill Stein(campaign)Lexington Town Meeting member (2005–2011)Green Party presidential nominee, 2012August 6, 2016Ajamu Baraka of Washington, D.C.National totalNational percentageHighest single state totalHighest single state percentageNotes1,457,2161.1%278,657 (1.9%)California12,737 (3.0%)HawaiiThis is the first fourth-place finisher to breach the one million mark since 1948

Poll standings All major polling outfits included Stein in their published results. Her highest total was 6% in McClatchy/Marist poll taken early August. After that her highest total was 4% in a CBS/New York Times poll taken in late October. She generally polled at 2 or 3%.

In statewide polling she reached as high as 7% in an Emerson College poll from Vermont in September.

Party nomination contest

Five additional candidates sought the Green Party nomination. Green National Convention presidential roll call vote, 2016CandidateFirst BallotPercentage Jill Stein 233.5 81.6% William Kreml 18.25 6.4% Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry 14.5 5.1% Darryl Cherney 8.5 3.0% Kent Mesplay 7.5 2.6% Elijah Manley 3.25 1.1% No candidate 0.5 0.2% Totals 286 100% Turnout 286 71.1%

Evan McMullin, Better for America Group and others

The anti-Donald Trump Better for America PAC recruited Evan McMullin as a candidate for president. He was on the ballot in 11 states and had write-in access in several others. NamePrior positionsStateAnnounced candidacyVice presidential candidateNotes Evan McMullin(campaign) Chief Policy Director for the House Republican Conference, 2015–2016CIA agent, 2001–2011 August 8, 2016Mindy Finn of the District of Columbia See also: Better for America (as Independence Party of Minnesota nominee) Nathan Johnson, a resident of San Diego, appears as McMullin's running mate on numerous state ballots.Other partiesNational totalNational percentageHighest single state totalHighest single state percentageIndependence Party of South CarolinaIndependence Party of Minnesota731,709 0.4%233,266 (21.4%)(Utah)233,266 (21.4%)(Utah)Aside from his large total in Utah, the ticket came in third in Idaho, and fourth in seven of the nine other states where it was on the ballot.

Darrell Castle, Constitution Party

Electoral votes: 207 (Scott Copeland had access to 4 electoral votes in Idaho, where Castle is on the ballot as an independent)

Write-in included: 406

Ballot access: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Write-in access: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia.