This article lists third-party and independent candidates, also jointly known as minor candidates, associated with the 2020 United States presidential election. "

Third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a V ...

" is a term commonly used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in reference to political parties other than the Democratic and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

parties. An independent candidate is one not affiliated with any political party. The list of candidates whose names were printed on the

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

or who were accepted as

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

s varied by

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. More than a hundred candidates were on the ballot or formally registered as write-in candidates in at least one state. All minor candidates combined received less than 2% of the national votes.

Summary

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Candidates who received more than 2,000 votes

The candidates below are listed in order of national vote totals.

Jo Jorgensen, Libertarian Party

Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen was the only minor candidate to breach a million votes nationwide, getting more than 1% of the national votes and more than the margin between the two major candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in several

battleground states In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...

. She was also the only minor candidate who was on the ballot in every state.

Howie Hawkins, Green Party

Rocky De La Fuente, Alliance Party

Gloria La Riva, Party for Socialism and Liberation

Kanye West, Birthday Party

Don Blankenship, Constitution Party

Brock Pierce, independent

Brian Carroll, American Solidarity Party

Jade Simmons, independent

Jade Simmons 2020 presidential ballot access

Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party

Socialist Workers Party 2020 presidential ballot access

Bill Hammons, Unity Party

Jerome Segal, Bread and Roses

Bread and Roses Party 2020 presidential ballot access

Dario Hunter, Progressive Party

Dario Hunter 2020 presidential ballot access

Phil Collins, Prohibition Party

Jesse Ventura, Green Party of Alaska

Mark Charles, independent

Joe McHugh, independent

Other votes

A few states counted write-in votes for anyone, including people who did not declare themselves candidates and even non-human entities. In Vermont, write-in preferences included well-regarded politicians (including misspellings), celebrities, fictional characters, deities and a type of cheese. In Nevada, the ballots included the option "none of these candidates", which received 14,079 votes.

Debates

Withdrawn candidates

Max Abramson Albert "Max" Abramson (born April 29, 1976) is an American politician currently serving as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Rockingham District 37 ( Hampton Falls, Seabrook) since 2018. He previously repre ...

, New Hampshire State Representative from the 20th Rockingham district ''(ran for and lost the Veterans Party of America nomination)'' ''(running for election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives)'' * Darcy Richardson, author, historian and political activist ''( Reform Party)'' ''(ran for Vice-President)'' * Bernie Sanders, U.S. senator from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

''(

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Ne ...

'', ''

Oregon Progressive Party The Oregon Progressive Party is a political party in the U.S. state of Oregon. Originally called the Oregon Peace Party, it was accepted as the sixth minor statewide political party in Oregon on August 22, 2008. This allowed the party to nomi ...

'', ''

Vermont Progressive Party The Vermont Progressive Party, formerly the Progressive Coalition, is a progressive political party in the United States founded in 1999 and active only in the state of Vermont. As of 2019, the party has two members in the Vermont Senate and se ...

'', and '' Socialist Alternative)'' (''endorsed Biden'') *

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

, U.S. senator from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

''(

)'' (''endorsed Biden'')

Declined

Individuals in this section were the subject of speculation that they might run for president as an independent or minor party candidate for the 2020 election but later said that they would not. * Michael Bloomberg, former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of New York (2002–2013), CEO of

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

''(ran for Democratic nomination)'' ''(endorsed Biden)'' *

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

, businessman and investor from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

''(endorsed Biden)'' *

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from HI-02 (2013–present) (''ran for Democratic nomination'') (''endorsed Biden'') *

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

, former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

(2011–2019) ''(endorsed Biden)'' *

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who served as both chairman and CEO of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and as interim CEO since 2022. Schultz also owned the Seattle SuperSonics baske ...

, former CEO of Starbucks from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(''endorsed Biden'') * Ed Stack, CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods *

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

, former

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. ...

(1999–2003), former mayor of Brooklyn Park (1991–1995) ''(considered running for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

nomination; along with Cynthia McKinney, replaced Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker as the Green Party candidates on the ballot in Alaska)'' *

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, spiritual leader, and political activist. She has written 14 books, including four ''New York Times'' number one bestsellers in the "Advice, How To, and Miscellaneous" cate ...

, spiritual/self-help author (''ran for Democratic nomination'') (''endorsed Sanders, then Biden'') *

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

, entrepreneur, tech executive (''ran for Democratic nomination'') (''endorsed Biden'')

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States third party and independent presidential candidates, 2020 2020 presidential candidates