As the 2020 election season heats up, many voters are looking beyond the two major parties for options. While third-party candidates rarely win elections, their presence can influence the political conversation and push major party candidates to address issues they might otherwise ignore.
Here are a few of the lesser-known candidates running for president this year:
1. Howie Hawkins (Green Party): Hawkins is running on a platform that includes a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and slashing military spending. He has been involved in left-wing politics since his days as an anti-war activist in the 1960s and co-founded the Green Party’s predecessor organization, The Citizens Party, in 1984.
2. Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian Party): Jorgensen is a businesswoman and former academic who has taught psychology at Clemson University for over three decades. Her platform emphasizes individual liberty and limited government intervention in economic affairs. She advocates for criminal justice reform and ending foreign wars while supporting free trade and immigration.
3. Gloria La Riva (Party for Socialism and Liberation): La Riva is a socialist activist who has run for office multiple times under various leftist banners. Her campaign calls for universal healthcare, ending police brutality against communities of color, canceling student loan debt, raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour among other things.
4. Brock Pierce (Independent): Pierce is best known as a child actor from movies like “The Mighty Ducks” but he also worked as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley before getting involved with cryptocurrency startups such as Blockchain Capital which provided seed funding to companies like Coinbase or Kraken exchange platforms among others . His platform includes creating jobs through developing blockchain technology-based infrastructure projects around America
5. Kanye West: The rapper-turned-presidential candidate has made headlines with his unconventional campaign tactics such as hosting rallies wearing bulletproof vests along with some controversial statements about mental health issues affecting him personally amongst other topics.
While these candidates may not have the resources or name recognition of their major party counterparts, they offer voters a chance to explore alternative policy ideas and challenge the status quo. Additionally, in some states, third-party candidates can play spoiler for one of the major parties.
However, it’s worth noting that voting for a third-party candidate can also be seen as throwing away one’s vote if that candidate has no realistic chance of winning. Some voters who supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein in 2016 were criticized after Donald Trump won several key swing states by narrow margins.
Ultimately, it is up to each individual voter to decide whether to cast their ballot for a minor party candidate or stick with the Democratic or Republican nominee. But regardless of who wins in November, it’s important for all Americans to exercise their right to vote and make their voices heard at the polls.