List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections

Last updated February 25, 2025

This article contains statistics on third-party and independent performances in US elections and a list of pages containing lists of those elections.

Lists of third-party and independent, performances in United States elections

List of third-party and independent performances in Alaska state legislative elections

List of third-party and independent performances in Hawaii state legislative elections

List of third-party and independent performances in Louisiana state legislative elections

List of third-party and independent performances in Montana state legislative elections

List of third-party and independent performances in West Virginia state legislative elections

List of third-party and independent performances in Wyoming state legislative elections

List of third-party and independent performances in United States mayoral elections

Notable performances

Presidential elections

The following are third party and independent candidates who received more than 10% of the total popular vote.

Year	Party	Nominee	Running mate	# Votes	% Votes	% Votes On Ballot	Electoral Votes	Place
1912	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	Hiram Johnson	4,120,609	27.39 / 100	27.86 / 100	88 / 531	2nd
1856	American	Millard Fillmore	Andrew J. Donelson	872,703	21.54 / 100	21.54 / 100	8 / 296	3rd
1992	Independent	Ross Perot	James Stockdale	19,743,821	18.91 / 100	18.91 / 100	0 / 538	3rd
1860	Southern Democratic	John C. Breckinridge	Joseph Lane	851,844	18.20 / 100	22.04 / 100	72 / 303	2nd
1924	Progressive	Robert M. La Follette	Burton K. Wheeler	4,833,821	16.62 / 100	16.69 / 100	13 / 531	3rd
1968	American Independent	George Wallace	Curtis LeMay	9,901,118	13.53 / 100	13.56 / 100	46 / 538
1860	Constitutional Union	John Bell	Edward Everett	590,946	12.62 / 100	15.43 / 100	39 / 303
1848	Free Soil	Martin Van Buren	Charles F. Adams	291,475	10.13 / 100	13.79 / 100	0 / 290

Senate elections

The following are third party and independent candidates who have won senate seats since 1970.

Notable third-party senatorial performances (1991–2020)
Year	State	Party	Nominee	# Votes	% Votes	Place	Notes
2018	Maine	Independent	Angus King	337,378	54.5 / 100	Re-elected
2018	Vermont	Independent	Bernie Sanders	183,529	67.32 / 100	Re-elected
2012	Maine	Independent	Angus King	370,580	52.89 / 100	Elected
2012	Vermont	Independent	Bernie Sanders	209,053	71.04 / 100	Re-elected
2010	Alaska	Republican (write-in)	Lisa Murkowski	101,091	39.49 / 100	Re-elected	Lost Republican primary
2006	Connecticut	Connecticut for Lieberman	Joe Lieberman	564,095	49.71 / 100	Re-elected	Lost Democratic primary
2006	Vermont	Independent	Bernie Sanders	171,638	65.41 / 100	Elected
1976	Virginia	Independent	Harry F. Byrd Jr.	890,778	57.2 / 100	Re-elected
1970	Virginia	Independent	Harry F. Byrd Jr.	506,237	53.54 / 100	Re-elected
1970	New York	Conservative	James L. Buckley	2,288,190	38.95 / 100	Elected

House elections

The following are third party and independent candidates who have received more than 30% of the popular vote since 2008.

Notable third party House performances (2022) – 19 entries
Year	District	Party	Candidate	# Votes	% Votes	Place
2022	North Dakota At-large	Independent	Cara Mund	89,644	37.6 / 100	2nd
2022	Texas 26	Libertarian	Mike Kolls	81,208	30.7 / 100	2nd
2020	Alaska At-large	Independent/Undeclared	Alyse Galvin ^[1]	159,856	45.3 / 100	2nd
2018	Alaska At-large	Independent/Undeclared	Alyse Galvin ^[1]	109,615	45.84 / 100	2nd
2016	Northern Mariana Islands At-large	Independent	Gregorio Sablan	10,605	100.0 / 100	Elected
2016	Arizona 8	Green	Mark Salazar	93,954	31.43 / 100	2nd
2014	Northern Mariana Islands At-large	Independent	Gregorio Sablan	8,549	65.29 / 100	Elected
2012	Puerto Rico At-large	New Progressive	Pedro Pierluisi	905,066	48.44 / 100	Elected
	Puerto Rico At-large	Popular Democratic	Rafael Cox Alomar	881,181	47.16 / 100	2nd
	California 33	Independent	Bill Bloomfield	146,660	46.04 / 100	2nd
	Kansas 3	Independent	Joel Balam	92,675	31.55 / 100	2nd
2008	American Samoa At-large	Independent	Eni Faleomavaega	7,498	60.38 / 100	Elected
	Puerto Rico At-large	New Progressive	Pedro Pierluisi	1,010,285	53.05 / 100	Elected
	New York 23	Conservative	Doug Hoffman	69,553	45.98 / 100	2nd
	Puerto Rico At-large	Popular Democratic	Alfredo Salazar Jr.	810,093	42.54 / 100	2nd
	American Samoa At-large	Independent	Amata Coleman Radewagen	4,349	35.02 / 100	2nd

Gubernatorial elections

The following are third party and independent candidates who have won governerships since 1990.

Notable third party gubernatorial performances
Year	State	Party	Nominee	Running mate	# Votes	% Votes	Place
2014	Alaska	Independent	Bill Walker	Byron Mallott	134,658	48.1 / 100	Elected
2014	Rhode Island	Independent	Lincoln Chafee		123,571	36.1 / 100	Elected
1998	Maine	Independent	Angus King		246,772	58.61 / 100	Re-elected
1998	Minnesota	Reform	Jesse Ventura	Mae Schunk	773,713	36.99 / 100	Elected
1994	Maine	Independent	Angus King		180,829	35.37 / 100	Elected
1990	Alaska	Alaskan Independence	Wally Hickel	Jack Coghill	75,721	38.88 / 100	Elected
1990	Connecticut	A Connecticut Party	Lowell Weicker	Eunice Groark	460,576	40.36 / 100	Elected

Other state constitutional offices

This list includes state constitutional offices apart from governorships. This table shows candidates who have gotten at or more than 5% of the total vote.

State attorney generals

Year	State	Party	Nominee	# Votes	% Votes	Place
2022	Nebraska ^[2]	Legal Marijuana Now	Larry Bolinger	188,649	30.3 / 100	2nd of 2^[3]
2022	Oklahoma ^[4]	Libertarian	Lynda Steele	281,923	26.24 / 100	2nd of 2^[5]
2018	Iowa ^[6]	Libertarian (Write-in)	Marco Battaglia	262,131	22.8 / 100	2nd of 2^[7]
2016	Washington ^[8]	Libertarian	Joshua Trumbull	979,105	32.86 / 100	2nd of 2^[9]
2014	Arkansas ^[10]	Libertarian	Aaron Cash	43,245	5.2 / 100	3rd of 3
2014	Nevada ^[11]	American Independent	Jonathan Hansen	30,513	5.6 / 100	3rd of 4
2002	Vermont^[12]	Vermont Progressive	Cindy Hill	16,152	7.3 / 100	3rd of 6
1914	California^[13]	Bull Moose (Progressive)	U. S. Webb	639,804^[14]	78.2 / 100	Elected^[15]
		Socialist	Walter R. Dunn	96,678^[16]	11.8 / 100	2nd of 3
		Prohibition	James H. Blanchard	81,274^[17]	9.9 / 100	3rd of 3

Statistics

Note: Prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913, most states did not hold direct elections to the Senate.^{[ citation needed ]}

Legend:		1st		2nd		3rd

Elections with notable third party electoral performances (1900–present)^[18]
State	Gubernatorial elections			Senate elections			Total elections
State	Threshold reached	Threshold candidates	Third party victory	Threshold reached	Threshold candidates	Third party victory	Threshold reached	Threshold candidates	Third party victory
Alabama	5	6	0	4	4	0	9	10	0
Alaska	9	10	2	6	6	1	15	16	3
Arizona	5	5	0	7	11	0	12	16	0
Arkansas	10	11	0	6	6	1	16	17	1
California	8	10	1	9	11	0	17	21	1
Colorado	4	6	0	4	5	0	8	11	0
Connecticut	7	9	1	4	4	1	11	13	2
Delaware	2	2	0	1	1	0	3	3	0
Florida	3	3	1	3	3	0	6	6	1
Georgia	4	4	0	2	2	0	6	6	0
Hawaii	3	3	0	2	2	0	5	5	0
Idaho	13	16	0	4	5	0	17	21	0
Illinois	4	5	0	2	2	0	6	7	0
Indiana	2	4	0	4	4	0	6	8	0
Iowa	1	1	0	1	1	0	2	2	0
Kansas	7	8	0	5	6	0	12	14	0
Kentucky	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	0
Louisiana	3	3	0	2	2	0	5	5	0
Maine	13	18	3	5	5	2	18	23	5
Maryland	1	1	0	3	3	0	4	4	0
Massachusetts	10	10	0	4	4	0	14	14	0
Michigan	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	0
Minnesota	21	25	5	19	22	5	40	47	10
Mississippi	2	2	0	4	4	0	6	6	0
Missouri	1	1	0	1	1	0	2	2	0
Nebraska	10	10	1	4	5	1	14	15	2
Nevada	6	7	2	7	8	0	13	15	2
New Hampshire	4	4	0	1	1	0	5	5	0
New Jersey	2	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	0
New Mexico	2	2	0	1	1	0	3	3	0
New York	11	12	0	8	8	1	19	20	1
North Carolina	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
North Dakota	7	8	1	9	11	1	16	19	2
Ohio	3	4	0	3	4	0	6	8	0
Oklahoma	7	7	0	3	3	0	10	10	0
Oregon	6	7	1	9	14	0	15	20	1
Pennsylvania	3	3	0	4	5	0	7	8	0
Rhode Island	7	9	0	1	1	0	8	10	0
South Carolina	0	0	0	2	2	1	2	2	1
South Dakota	7	9	0	5	7	0	12	16	0
Tennessee	7	8	0	4	4	0	11	12	0
Texas	9	12	0	1	1	0	10	13	0
Utah	6	7	0	3	3	0	9	10	0
Vermont	11	11	0	4	4	3	15	15	3
Virginia	4	4	0	14	18	2	18	22	2
Washington	7	8	0	5	6	0	12	14	0
West Virginia	4	4	0	0	0	0	4	4	0
Wisconsin	18	21	3	12	15	2	30	36	5
Wyoming	2	2	0	1	1	0	3	3	0
Total	284	327	21	203	236	21	487	563	42

Notes and references

1 2 Also listed as the de facto Democratic nominee.
↑ "Nebraska Attorney General election, 2022". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
↑ The only other candidate in the race was a Republican.
↑ "OK Election Results". results.okelections.gov. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
↑ The only other candidate in the race was a Republican.
↑ "Iowa Attorney General election, 2018". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
↑ The only other candidate in the race was a Democrat.
↑ "Washington Attorney General election, 2016". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
↑ The only other candidate in the race was a Democrat.
↑ "Arkansas Attorney General election, 2014". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
↑ "Nevada Attorney General election, 2014". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
↑ "VT Elections Database » 2002 Attorney General General Election". VT Elections Database. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
↑ "JoinCalifornia - 11-03-1914 Election". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
↑ "JoinCalifornia - U. S. Webb". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
↑ Later when Webb ran for reelection, Webb ran as a Republican.
↑ "JoinCalifornia - Walter R. Dunn". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
↑ "JoinCalifornia - James H. Blanchard". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
↑ The threshold is >5% of the vote.

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[Galvin-1] 1 2 Also listed as the de facto Democratic nominee.

[2] "Nebraska Attorney General election, 2022". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 19, 2024.

[3] The only other candidate in the race was a Republican.

[4] "OK Election Results". results.okelections.gov. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2024-12-19.

[5] The only other candidate in the race was a Republican.

[6] "Iowa Attorney General election, 2018". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 2, 2025.

[7] The only other candidate in the race was a Democrat.

[8] "Washington Attorney General election, 2016". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 19, 2024.

[9] The only other candidate in the race was a Democrat.

[10] "Arkansas Attorney General election, 2014". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 25, 2024.

[11] "Nevada Attorney General election, 2014". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 2, 2025.

[12] "VT Elections Database » 2002 Attorney General General Election". VT Elections Database. Retrieved 2025-02-24.

[13] "JoinCalifornia - 11-03-1914 Election". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.

[14] "JoinCalifornia - U. S. Webb". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.

[15] Later when Webb ran for reelection, Webb ran as a Republican.

[16] "JoinCalifornia - Walter R. Dunn". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.

[17] "JoinCalifornia - James H. Blanchard". www.joincalifornia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-24.

[18] The threshold is >5% of the vote.

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v t e Notable third-party performances in United States elections
* Third party is endorsed by a major party
Presidential	1788–89 * 1792 * 1832 1848 1856 1860 1872* 1892 1896* 1912 1924 1948 1960 1968 1980 1992 1996
Senatorial (since 1940)	California 1940 Minnesota 1940 North Dakota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Minnesota 1942 Minnesota 1942 Nebraska 1942 Virginia 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 (Republican write-in) North Dakota 1946 North Dakota 1946 Tennessee 1946 Arkansas 1948 Alabama 1950 New Hampshire 1950 California 1952 Maine 1952 New York 1952 North Dakota 1952 Virginia 1952 South Carolina 1954 (Democratic write-in) Virginia 1954 Utah 1958 Virginia 1958 Virginia 1960 Virginia 1964 Mississippi 1966 Virginia 1966 Virginia 1966 Alabama 1968 Alaska 1968 Maryland 1968 New York 1968 Connecticut 1970 Mississippi 1970 New York 1970 Virginia 1970 Louisiana 1972 Florida 1974 Hawaii 1974 Nevada 1974 New York 1974 Utah 1974 Minnesota 1976 Virginia 1976 Alabama 1978 Arkansas 1978 Maine 1978 Mississippi 1978 New York 1980 Washington 1982 Tennessee 1984 Virginia 1990 Alaska 1992 Arizona 1992 Hawaii 1992 Louisiana 1992 Ohio 1992 Arizona 1994 Minnesota 1994 Ohio 1994 Vermont 1994 Virginia 1994 Alaska 1996 Minnesota 1996 Arizona 2000 Massachusetts 2000 Minnesota 2000 Alaska 2002 Kansas 2002 Massachusetts 2002 Mississippi 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Virginia 2002 Oklahoma 2004 Connecticut 2006 Indiana 2006 Maine 2006 Vermont 2006 * Arkansas 2008 Idaho 2008 Minnesota 2008 Oregon 2008 Alaska 2010 (Republican write-in) Florida 2010 Indiana 2010 South Carolina 2010 Utah 2010 Indiana 2012 Maine 2012 Maryland 2012 Missouri 2012 Montana 2012 Vermont 2012 * Kansas 2014 South Dakota 2014 Wyoming 2014 Alaska 2016 Arizona 2016 Idaho 2016 Indiana 2016 Kansas 2016 Maine 2018 New Mexico 2018 Vermont 2018 * Alaska 2020* Arkansas 2020 Minnesota 2020 Nebraska 2020 Idaho 2022 North Dakota 2022 Utah 2022* Maine 2024 Nebraska 2024 Utah 2024 Vermont 2024 *
Gubernatorial (since 1940)	Minnesota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Connecticut 1942 Minnesota 1942 New York 1942 Wisconsin 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 Tennessee 1950 Maine 1952 Vermont 1952 Tennessee 1954 Nebraska 1956 Texas 1956 Utah 1956 Oklahoma 1958 Tennessee 1958 North Dakota 1960 Tennessee 1962 Virginia 1965 Alabama 1966 Georgia 1966 Idaho 1966 Maryland 1966 New York 1966 Tennessee 1966 Alabama 1970 Arkansas 1970 New Hampshire 1970 New York 1970 Mississippi 1971 New Hampshire 1972 Texas 1972 Washington 1972 Virginia 1973 Maine 1974 Nebraska 1974 Nevada 1974 Texas 1974 Vermont 1974 Vermont 1976 Alaska 1978 California 1978 Maine 1978 Rhode Island 1978 Alaska 1982 Arizona 1982 Hawaii 1982 Alaska 1986 Arizona 1986 Illinois 1986 Maine 1986 Oklahoma 1986 Vermont 1986 Utah 1988 Alaska 1990 Connecticut 1990 Kansas 1990 Maine 1990 New York 1990 Oklahoma 1990 Oregon 1990 Utah 1992 West Virginia 1992 Alaska 1994 Connecticut 1994 Hawaii 1994 Maine 1994 New Mexico 1994 Oklahoma 1994 Pennsylvania 1994 Rhode Island 1994 Vermont 1994 Alaska 1998 Maine 1998 Minnesota 1998 New York 1998 Pennsylvania 1998 Rhode Island 1998 Kentucky 1999 New Hampshire 2000 Vermont 2000 Arizona 2002 California 2002 Maine 2002 Minnesota 2002 New Mexico 2002 New York 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Vermont 2002 Wisconsin 2002 Alaska 2006 Illinois 2006 Maine 2006 Massachusetts 2006 Minnesota 2006 Texas 2006 Louisiana 2007 Vermont 2008 New Jersey 2009 Colorado 2010 Idaho 2010 Maine 2010 Massachusetts 2010 Minnesota 2010 Rhode Island 2010 Wyoming 2010 Kentucky 2011 Virginia 2013 Alaska 2014 * Hawaii 2014 Maine 2014 Rhode Island 2014 Wyoming 2014 Maine 2018 Kansas 2018 Indiana 2020 Vermont 2020* Alaska 2022 Idaho 2022 Oregon 2022 North Dakota 2024 Utah 2024 (Republican write-in)
Territorial Governors (since 1970)	U.S. Virgin Islands 1970 Puerto Rico 1972 District of Columbia 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1978 Puerto Rico 1980 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 Puerto Rico 1988 U.S. Virgin Islands 1990 U.S. Virgin Islands 1994 U.S. Virgin Islands 1998 Puerto Rico 2000 Northern Mariana Islands 2001 U.S. Virgin Islands 2002 Northern Mariana Islands 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands 2006 Northern Mariana Islands 2009 District of Columbia 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands 2010 District of Columbia 2014 Northern Mariana Islands 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 Puerto Rico 2016 District of Columbia 2018 Guam 2018 Northern Mariana Islands 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands 2018 Puerto Rico 2020 District of Columbia 2022 Northern Mariana Islands 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands 2022 Puerto Rico 2024
State legislative	Alaska Arkansas Colorado Hawaii Louisiana Montana Utah West Virginia Wyoming
Portal:Politics Third party (U.S. politics) List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress

v t e United States third-party and independent politicians
Office holders	Senate House Governors State legislatures
Election performances	President House Senate Governor Mayor State legislature
Presidential tickets	1996 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024