‘Something to Say’: What It’s Like to Be a Third-Party Candidate in a Two-Party System
Melissa Quinn /
Life as a third-party candidate is far from easy.
Those battling the two-party system often juggle campaigning with a 9-to-5 job and face tough hurdles just to get their names on the ballot.
But despite working the campaign trail as best they can, third-party or independent candidates say they’re in it to win it. And in this year’s U.S. Senate races, they aim to elevate the conversation beyond the “repetitive” rhetoric of their Republican and Democratic colleagues.
In typical election cycles, the focus falls on the eventual nominees of the two major political parties. This year’s matchups in the midterm elections Nov. 4 are no different.
However, also on ballots are third-party candidates looking to give voters another option when the status quo isn’t cutting it.
“Give me the opportunity,” David Patterson, a peace officer who is the Libertarian nominee for Senate in Kentucky, tells The Daily Signal in an interview. “Republican and Democratic leadership has failed. They have failed miserably. We’re $17.5 trillion plus in debt. … They failed.”
Patterson is going up against Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican incumbent and Senate minority leader, who already is opposed by Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of state.
Why? He explains:
They’ve had their opportunity and they’re really, really squandered it away. I would say, don’t feel like you have to pick the winning horse. Go and look at the issues. Look at the stances on the issues. If you still want to vote for them, there’s no hard feelings. At least give me a look.
Patterson balances campaigning with his regular job with the city of Harrodsburg, and it’s no picnic.
His shift as a peace officer begins at 4 p.m. and ends at midnight. Then he winds down and gears up for campaigning. Until daylight, Patterson answers emails and responds to inquiries from voters.
Around 7 a.m., the Senate hopeful meets with a friend and adviser for a morning jog; he typically runs two miles, three times a week. Other days, Patterson heads to meetings with tea party organizations and does interviews with the media. He’ll meet with voters and organizations throughout Kentucky.
Then it’s to bed for several hours before the routine begins again at 4 p.m.
“It’s chaotic,” Patterson says. “There’s so much to do.”
An Uphill Road
Compared to Grimes and McConnell’s campaigns, which rely on thousands of volunteers and large staffs, Patterson is backed by a force of just four people, not including his wife and two children: a campaign manager, press secretary, one adviser and one adviser/running buddy.
The group works for free. A few unofficial volunteers also go door-to-door, doing their part to get Patterson elected.
So far this election cycle, the two major parties have spent a total of $327.7 million.
In Kentucky, McConnell and Grimes rank among the top 10 Senate candidates in fundraising: the Republican incumbent has raked in $17 million, his challenger $11 million.
According to the last campaign finance report, by contrast, Patterson hadn’t raised anything.
His wife, Ashley, is ready for the race to be over.
To win control of the Senate on Nov. 4, Republicans must net six new seats. The New York Times gives the GOP a 68 percent chance of claiming the upper chamber.
With Election Day under two weeks away, the focus is turning toward races that are tightening up. Among them: North Carolina, where the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Kay Hagan has a mere one-point lead, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
But Republicans fear the Libertarian candidate, Sean Haugh, could take votes from Republican nominee Thom Tillis, tipping the election to Hagan.
The latest Public Policy Polling survey found Haugh capturing just 5 percent. Tillis, though, trailed Kagan by three percentage points.
“I was right all along,” Haugh told The Daily Signal earlier this month. “The power of a third-party Libertarian candidate is such that if they want to win elections, Democrats and Republicans have to be more Libertarian and peaceful.”
‘Something to Say’
Geoffrey Skelley, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says the ability of third-party candidates to spoil elections often is exaggerated. In races where a candidate has a growing lead–as in Kentucky–a third candidate has little chance to influence the result.
Warren Taylor makes his support known for Libertarian candidate David Patterson. (Photo: Newscom)
However, their power can be felt in tight matchups.
“In any political candidacy, someone is going to run because they have something to say,” Skelley tells The Daily Signal. “For independent and third-party candidates, a lot of time it’s a pet issue or a group they want to focus on.”
In its latest survey on the Kentucky race, the Rasmussen polling firm asked voters to pick who they would send to represent them in the Senate–McConnell or Grimes. Patterson wasn’t listed as an option.
A Fox News poll, however, put the Libertarian at 3 percent.
In the Senate race in Arkansas, Rep. Tom Cotton, the Republican challenger, and Sen. Mark Pryor, the incumbent Democrat, face not one but two third-party competitors: Libertarian Nathan LaFrance and the Green Party’s Mark Swaney.
A Fox News poll puts both LaFrance and Swaney at 2 percent.
Swaying an Election
History, though, shows that a third-party candidate can play a crucial role in a defeat.
In the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race, Skelley says, Libertarian Robert Sarvis snagged 6.5 percent of the vote. Republicans said his candidacy hurt Republican Ken Cuccinelli, the state’s attorney general, who lost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Similarly, in the 2000 presidential election, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader’s candidacy angered Democrats–especially when the outcome came down to the results in Florida.
There, Skelley said, votes that went to Nader likely would have gone otherwise to Democratic nominee Al Gore instead of Republican George W. Bush.
“That could have swayed a national election,” he says.
This year, the most notable Senate candidate running without major-party affiliation is Independent Greg Orman, running against Republican incumbent Pat Roberts in Kansas.
Orman emerged as a strong contender after Democrat Chad Taylor withdrew and supporters turned to Orman.
Republicans argue that Orman would side with Democrats if elected. Orman, though, has said he is disillusioned with both parties.
The Kansas race is currently tied, polls show.
Nathan LaFrance (left), Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate from Arkansas, with fellow Libertarian hopefuls Jacob Holloway, who is running for Arkansas secretary of state, and Christopher Olson, running for lieutenant governor. (Photo: Facebook)
‘What Happened to Representation?’
Third-party candidates must motivate a small army of grassroots support.
In Arkansas, LaFrance says he had to obtain 10,000 signatures just to get on the ballot — a costly and exhausting process. The father of six says:
One of the biggest things I’ve struggled with is getting people comfortable with there being a third party, understanding what the party stands for as compared to the two other parties and understanding that a vote for a third party is not a wasted vote. It’s a vote for a candidate they believe best represents what they want happening with their government.
In Kentucky, Patterson faced a similar challenge with a lower signature threshold. Leaders of the Kentucky Libertarian Party deployed professionals to gather more than 9,100 signatures. Of those, the state verified 5,700–well over the 5,000 needed to get on the ballot.
“That’s completely unacceptable,” he says of the struggle to collect signatures, adding:
It’s wrong. It’s the establishment trying to keep the third-party candidates out. What happened to representation? What happened to us having a voice? That’s what our country was founded on. That’s the hardest thing.
Patterson encountered another obstacle in the candidate debates.
Kentucky Educational Television, public broadcasters, hosted a debate last week between Grimes and McConnell. It didn’t invite Patterson.
McConnell and Grimes “didn’t want me on stage and were trying to silence my beliefs by constantly moving the criteria [to participate],” Patterson says.
His exclusion led to a lawsuit, and a judge ultimately ruled against him.
“That whole thing was shocking because never has a third-party candidate been left out of a debate,” Patterson says.
Sean Haugh, the Libertarian pizza deliveryman running in North Carolina. (Photo: Sean Haugh You Tube)
Running on Principles
Events played out differently in Arkansas and North Carolina, where LaFrance, Swaney and Haugh were allowed to participate.
LaFrance hoped to speak with Cotton and Pryor before the forum, and was surprised to receive a phone call from Pryor the previous weekend.
The two played phone tag but finally met face-to-face before the debate began.
From Cotton, though, it was radio silence.
Reflecting on the debate, the Arkansas Libertarian says he was struck by how much the other candidates stuck to talking points and were “repetitive.”
“As a candidate trying to run on principles and ideas for reform, and get the platform out, it’s frustrating,” LaFrance said. “It doesn’t tell the voters of Arkansas much of anything.”
Haugh, though, claims he nailed his appearance with Hagan and Tillis.
“I think of course I won the debate big time,” he said the next day.
In both Arkansas and North Carolina, the Republican and Democrat candidates also went head-to-head in separate debates that excluded third-party candidates.
Amanda Swafford, LIbertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia, is making life tough for the major-party candidates. (Photo: Newscom)
‘A Responsibility to Educate’
Libertarian candidates also are seen as posing a threat to the success of Republicans in Georgia and Alaska.
In Georgia, Republican David Perdue is neck-and-neck with Democrat Michelle Nunn. Libertarian Amanda Swafford remains in the race.
In Alaska, Libertarian Mike Fish could take votes from Republican Dan Sullivan, who maintains a lead over the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Mark Begich.
Tragedy struck in the Senate race in Iowa last week when Libertarian candidate Doug Butzier died in a plane crash.
Republican Joni Ernst and Democrat Bruce Braley both noted the loss of Butzier, whose name will remain on the ballot.
In Louisiana, Libertarian Brannon Lee McMorris separates a field of eight Republicans and Democrats pursuing the Senate seat. The Bayou State will host an open primary Nov. 4 instead of a general election. If no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates–regardless of political affiliation–will compete in a runoff election Dec. 6.
Third-party candidates may face challenges and skepticism, but most prefer to think their presence gives disillusioned voters hope. As LaFrance says:
I feel like we’ve gotten to a point where we’re heading in a direction so quickly that we are going to be handing our children a country that’s worse off. A country that has less opportunity economic wise, less personal freedoms and a limited Constitution than the one we’re given. I find that completely unacceptable. I feel a responsibility to go out there and try to educate and talk about the issues to try to get things on the right path.