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In a few days, Americans will have to choose a new president for the next four years. If we know the two main rivals, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who are the other candidates?
For more than 170 years, the race for the White House has been played out in the vast majority of cases between a Democrat and a Republican. So yes, on November 3, Americans will choose between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but not only… Indeed, voters can also choose a large swarm of independent candidates.
In 2016, more than 7.6 million people voted for a candidate other than Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Prior to that, the last successful campaign for an independent candidate was in 1992. At the time, Ross Perot won over 19.7 million votes. For many experts, the candidacy, which had pocketed 18.91% of the vote, cost George H.W. Bush his re-election against Bill Clinton.
So even if most of them are unlikely to hope for a positive outcome, LCI.fr offers you an overview of the main "small" independent candidates.
Jo Jorgensen, libertarian party
63-year-old Jo Jorgensen, academic and professor of psychology, is the candidate for the Libertarian Party. She is the only one with Joe Biden and Donald Trump to appear on the ballots of the 50 states. For this political activist, this is not her first presidential campaign as a candidate. In 1996, she was already the running mate of the libertarian presidential candidate, Harry Browne.
Jorgensen's platform is inspired by his party's philosophy, which seeks to limit state power as much as possible while supporting individual freedoms. Its platform notably opposes federal programs, mass incarceration or external military operations. She wants to turn the United States into "a giant, armed and neutral Switzerland," as she claims in a campaign clip.
Jo Jorgensen’s running mate is entrepreneur Jeremy “Spike” Cohen.
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party
Howie Hawkins, 67, is the candidate of the Green Party of the United States, which he co-founded in 2001. This activist has been committed to the environment and against wars (especially that of Vietnam) since the 1960s. This is his first presidential candidacy but not his first foray into politics. Over the past two decades, he has been a candidate in several local elections in New York, where he often scored marginal. This year, his name will appear on newsletters for 29 states and the city of Washington. He will be a write-in candidate in 17 states. This means Howie Hawkins’s name will not appear on any state ballot, but residents will still be able to vote for him.
The Green candidate defends a very leftist program for American politics. Like the left wing of the Democratic Party, he calls for a "green New Deal", which he boasts of having invented, aimed at switching to 100% renewable energy within ten years. He wants to finance this massive plan by reducing the Defense budget by 75%. Pacifist since his youth, he advocates the end of "endless wars" and proposes to repatriate all troops to the United States.
Her running mate for the Vice President position is Angela Walker.
Kanye West, the Birthday Party
He is by far the best known of the small candidates. The 43-year-old rapper and billionaire is running for the first time in his (already busy) life for the US presidential election. West is the candidate for his own party, the Birthday Party. He will be on the ballots of just 15 states and may be a write-in candidate in five others.
When he launched last July, many experts saw the rapper's candidacy as a way to siphon votes away from Joe Biden and therefore to benefit Donald Trump, whom he supported for the majority of his term, before to criticize him. But his candidacy has not taken off since: he is credited with only 1 to 2% of the vote.
While Kanye West hasn't given a full schedule, his platform revolves around "ten key points," all accompanied by a bible verse. For the most part, they revolve around issues specific to the conservative milieu. He advocates in particular the return of prayer in classrooms, a strong national defense but also the end of the right to abortion. However, he also wants more progressive measures such as police reform or the extensive use of renewable energies.
Her running mate is preacher and spiritual coach Michelle Tidball.
Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, the Alliance Party
65-year-old businessman Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente is a candidate for the Alliance party. This is the second presidential bid after that of 2016 by this former owner of banks and car dealerships. He also tried to be elected mayor of New York or the Congress of California. The entrepreneur will be on ballots in 16 states and be a write-in candidate in four others. He is also the candidate for the American Independence Party in California with Kanye West as vice president.
Like most small candidates, he calls on Americans to reject the current political system, which is polarized around two parties. It supports a reform of the migration system, a massive investment in renewable energies and a new health system.
Her running mate is author, historian and activist Darcy Richardson.
Don Blankenship, the Constitution Party
He's a hot candidate. Former CEO of coal giant Massey Energy, Don Blakenship, 70, served a year in prison after violating safety standards at one of its mines, causing the deaths of 29 people in 2010. Despite his legal disputes, the former business leader ran for the 2018 senatorial election in West Virginia. It is the first time in his life that he has run for president as a candidate for the Constitution Party. He will be on the ballots in 18 states and will be a write-in candidate in four more.
With a profile similar to that of Donald Trump, Don Blakenship carries a resolutely conservative program and supports, for example, the end of abortion, the protection of the Second Amendment, which allows Americans to own firearms, or the construction of 'a wall. Despite his ideological closeness to the president, Blakenship wants to differentiate himself and says he will do what Donald Trump did not do during his tenure.
His running mate is former Republican Party member William Mohr.
Brock Pierce, independent candidate
After a convicted rapper or CEO, a former actor. Brock Pierce, 39, is running as an independent candidate for the first time in his life. Known as an actor in his youth, he starred in Disney films like The Little Champions or Junior President, Brock Pierce subsequently made his fortune in crypto-currencies. It weighs between $ 700 million and $ 1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine. As a candidate, his name will appear in 15 states as well as Washington D.C. He will be a write-in candidate in five others.
Its agenda revolves around progressive measures such as legalizing cannabis, a universal public health system and ending carbon emissions within 20 years.
Her running mate is entrepreneur Karla Ballard.
