From the Alliance Party to the Veterans’ Party of America, this is your in-depth 2020 third-party guide.
If there are some issues which you are strongly supportive of, opposed to, or merely curious about and you feel that you’re hearing very little information about these issues from the Trump administration as well as from the Biden/ Harris campaign, there’s a reason for this. While both the Trump administration as well as the Biden/ Harris campaign are paying close attention to a number of very important domestic and foreign policy issues, there are also still a number of issues that the third parties are concentrating on a lot more so than the 2 major parties.
Back in 2017, I wrote an article which appeared in the May 4th, 2017 issue of The Pavlovic Today in which I discussed how candidates from the third parties face obstacles to ballot access in many states, and I also pointed out that the Commission on Presidential Debates has refused to consider inviting the candidates from the third parties to participate in the quadrennial televised Presidential and Vice Presidential debates since 1992.
And sadly, for the third parties, notably little has changed since 2016 with regard to access both to ballots as well as to the debates. In 2020, the third parties face most of the same obstacles to ballot access in many states as they did during the 2012 and the 2016 elections. The Commission On Presidential Debates is still comprised entirely of representatives from the Democrat and the Republican parties, and the Commission On Presidential Debates still only invites the candidates from our 2 major parties to participate in the debates.
As we approach the November 2020 general elections, the mainstream media is not going to ignore the third party candidates entirely, but you will likely see only very limited coverage about the third parties in the mainstream media again this year.
So, if you are interested in voting for someone other than Trump/ Pence or Biden/ Harris, or if you are simply curious to learn more about the candidates from the third parties who are running in the 2020 elections, here are the third party candidates for this year:
The American Independent Party: Some of the parties which I’ll be discussing in this article are parties which were founded with the specific intention of fusing various religious ideologies with political issues. These parties aspire to propose legislation which would address numerous domestic and foreign policy issues based on their interpretations of their religious ideals. According to the websites of these parties, the candidates from these parties do intend to attempt to preserve and respect everybody’s rights to full freedom of religion, however we also need to bear in mind that part of the goal of these parties is to propose, enact and enforce legislation which is intended to address addresses a number of domestic and foreign policy issues from a perspective which is based on their interpretations of their religious ideologies.
Because religious ideologies throughout the world are always subject to numerous diverse interpretations, I am not going to attempt to summarize the religious ideologies which any of these parties base their platforms on. I’m including links to the websites or the social networking pages of all of the parties which I discuss in this article. The administrators within these parties describe their descriptions of their interpretations of the religious ideologies that they aspire to base their political platforms on on their websites, and I want to allow people to reach their own conclusions about these parties.
The American Independent Party was founded in 1967, this party’s first Presidential candidate was the Wallace/ LeMay ticket in 1968. The American Independent Party’s platforms are mostly based on the principles of paleoconservatism, which is broad series of ideologies which attempt to infuse various religious ideologies with political issues.
The American Independent Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate will be Rocky De La Fuente, whom I will discuss in greater detail while I’m discussing the Reform Party, and the American Independent Party has selected Kanye West as this party’s Vice Presidential nominee this year. I will be discussing Kanye West later in this article in the section in which I’m discussing the Birthday Party.
The American Independent Party is presently in the process of attempting to be placed on the ballots in a number of states, so the states in which this party will be appearing on the ballots will likely continue to change throughout September and October. Up to date information will appear on the party’s website, aipca.org.
The American Solidarity Party: As I’ve mentioned, some of the parties which I will be discussing in this article base their political platforms on their interpretations of various religious ideologies. Again, I am intentionally opting not to attempt to summarize any party’s religious beliefs in this article because I want people to reach your own conclusions based on the wording that the administrators who work in these parties choose to post onto their party’s websites. According to the American Solidarity Party’s website, this party bases their political platforms on the principles of Christian Democracy.
The American Solidarity Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate is Brian Carroll and the American Solidarity Party’s Vice Presidential candidate is Amar Patel. Brian Carroll has worked as a teacher in California, in Colombia, he taught briefly in the PRC, and he has written for a Vermont based newspaper called The Valley Voice. Brian Carrol has previously run as the American Solidarity Party’s candidate for seat in the U.S. House Of Representatives from California in the 2018 elections.
Amar Patel is a teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He has worked on committees for local school boards. This is the first year that Amar Patel is running for any political office.
If you are interested in learning more about the American Solidarity Party’s 2020 Presidential campaign, the party lists a detailed description of the issues that they are advocating for on their website, solidarity-party.org.
The Approval Voting Party: The Approval Voting Party is a single issue party; the Approval Voting Party advocates for replacing our current electoral system with approval voting. Approval voting is a system in which voters have the option to vote for more than one candidate for a given office, if they opt to do so. There are a number of countries throughout the world in which various forms of approval voting is used in local, regional and national elections.
The 2020 Presidential candidate from the Approval Voting Party is Blake Huber, who had previously run as this party’s candidate for the Secretary Of State for the state of Colorado in 2018, and his running mate is Frank Atwood.
Frank Atwood is also from Colorado. Frank Atwood had previously been a member of the Libertarian Party, he had run as the Libertarian Party’s candidate for the U.S. House Of Representatives from Colorado in 2012 as well as in 2014, and in 2016 he was the Approval Voting Party’s candidate for President.
At the time that I’m writing this article, the information that I found verifies that the Approval Voting Party will only appear on the ballots in Colorado so far, though they may gain access to the ballots in other states by November.
The Approval Voting Party does not have their own website, this party posts a detailed description of the reasons that are advocating for replacing the electoral system that we currently use throughout the U.S. with approval voting on their facebook page, facebook.com/groups/Approvalvoting/#_=_.
The Birthday Party: Kanye West’s Birthday Party is another party which seems to aspire to fuse religious ideologies with political issues.
Kanye West has been well known as a rapper for many years, and in more recent years he has worked as a fashion designer. In the U.S. as well as in other countries, there have been musicians who have become politicians in the past; many politicians throughout the world have worked in quite a few different industries before they opted to enter into politics. This is the first year that Kanye West is attempting to run for a political office.
Kanye West’s 2020 running mate is Michelle Tidball. Michelle Tidball runs an online religious studies/ bible studies program and she describes herself as working as a “biblical life coach” in Wyoming. This is the first year that Michelle Tidball is running for a political office.
The Birthday Party’s website is kanye2020.country.
As I mentioned earlier, Kanye West will also be appearing as the American Independent Party’s Vice Presidential candidate in some states this year.
Bread and Roses: The Bread And Roses Party is a new party, this party was formed in 2018. According to The Bread And Roses party’s website, the primary goal of this party is to advocate for proposing legislative reforms which attempt to blend elements of socialism into the American economic system, though they appear to be advocating for a much more moderate form of socialism than some of the other socialist parties such as the Socialist Equality Party and the Socialist Workers Party, whose candidates I discuss later in this article (see below).
The Bread And Roses Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate is Jerome Segal and the party’s Vice Presidential candidate is John de Graaf. Jerome Segal has been a philosophy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
In the 1970’s he had worked as an assistant to the Congressman from Minnesota Donald M. Fraser (Dem.), and since the 1980’s, he has worked with a number of organizations which attempt to facilitate the Israel- Palestinian peace process.
John de Graaf is a documentary film maker, since the 1960’s, he has been an activist for a number of issues, he is active in a number of organizations which advocate for environmental conservation and implementing green technologies. This is the first year that Jerome Segal and John de Graaf will be running for a political office.
As of August of 2020, the information that I found only confirms that the Bread And Roses Party will appear on the ballots in Maryland, though they may gain access to the ballots in other states by November.
If you are interested in reading a full description of the Bread And Roses party’s platforms, the party’s website is breadandroses.us.
The Constitution Party: The Constitution Party is a far right party whose ideas are based on paleoconservatism. The Constitution party has advocated for banning LGBT marriages, banning the rights of LGBT couples to adopt children, banning all forms of legal gambling in the U.S., banning abortion, and they advocate for proposing legislation which would guarantee easier access to legal firearms throughout the U.S. The Constitution Party advocates for stricter annual limits on legal migration to the U.S., abolishing the Export–Import Bank of the United States, abolishing the Department Of Energy and this party wants the U.S. to withdraw entirely from the United Nations.
2020 Presidential candidate is Don Blankenship and this party’s Vice Presidential candidate is William Mohr. Don Blankenship had been CEO of a coal company called Massey Energy, and he had attempted to run as one of the Republican Party’s candidates for a seat in the U.S. Senate from West Virginia in 2018. He was eliminated in the primaries in the 2018 elections. Don Blankenship was convicted of misdemeanor charges relating to workplace safety standards in an explosion in a coal mine West Virginia which had occurred in 2010.
William Mohr had also previously been active in the Republican Party. William Mohr has worked as a truck driver, he has worked as a manager at a food production plant, and he presently works in building maintenance. William Mohr ran for a seat in the Michigan House Of Representatives in 2006.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has placed the Constitution Party on their list of antigovernment groups.
For those who are interested in reading a full description of the issues that the Constitution Party advocates for, the Constitution Party’s website is constitutionparty.com.
The Green Party: The Green Party Of The United States advocates for many of the same issues that the Green Parties in other countries throughout the world advocate for. The Green Party of the United States advocates for a “green new deal” which would involve allocating funding for implementing green technologies such as solar power, wind power, tidal and wave power, biofuels and recycling programs on a large scale throughout the U.S. In addition to implementing environmental technologies, the Green Party also advocates for legislation which would advance the protection of LGBT rights throughout the U.S. and they also advocate for allowing statehood status for Washington, D.C.
The Green Party’s 2020 candidate for President is Howie Hawkins and the Green Party’s 2020 Vice Presidential candidate is Angela Walker. Howie Hawkins has previously ran as the Green Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate from New York in 2006, he has run as the Green Party’s candidate for a seat in the U.S. House Of Representatives from New York in 2000, 2004 and 2008, he ran as the Green Party’s candidate for governor of New York in 2010, 2014 and 2018, and he has run as the Green Party’s candidate for mayor of Syracuse, N.Y. in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Angela Walker had worked as a bus driver in Wisconsin for many years, and she presently works as a dump truck driver. She has worked as a representative as well as a director in the bus drivers’ labor union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, she has been an activist during the Occupy Movement. Angela Walker ran as the Socialist Party Of The United States Of America’s Vice Presidential candidate in the 2016 elections.
A full description of the issues that the Green Party advocates for is listed on the party’s website gp.org.
Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker are also running as the 2020 candidates for the Socialist Party of the United States of America.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party: The Legal Marijuana Now Party is another single issue party. As the name implies, the primary issue which the Legal Marijuana Now Party advocates for is the legalization of marijuana throughout the U.S. This party’s platform includes proposing legislation which would allow for greater access to marijuana for medical purposes throughout the U.S. as well as the legalization of recreational marijuana.
In recent years, a number of states have held referendums which proposed allowing for recreational cannabis use, and voters opted to vote in favor of these referendums in a number of states. However, while state laws now allow for the recreational use of cannabis in a number of states, those state laws contradict Federal controlled substance laws. The Obama administration had opted not to enforce the Federal ban on recreational marijuana use in the states in which voters have opted to allow for recreational cannabis; this policy was summarized in the Cole Memorandum of 2013.
In 2018, the Trump administration rescinded the Cole Memorandum. There have been recent proposals, such as the “Refer Act,” the “States Act” and the Sensible Enforcement of Cannabis Act, which would protect the growers and the distributors who grow, transport and dispense cannabis for recreational use in the states in which recreational cannabis has been legalized, but none of those proposals have passed. As of 2020, while the Trump administration has not opted not to attempt to enforce the federal ban on cannabis use, the Federal government does still maintain the option to close all of the dispensaries in the states in which recreational cannabis use is now permitted, thus effectively ending all legal recreational cannabis use throughout the U.S. The Legal Marijuana Now Party advocates for ending the Federal ban on recreational cannabis use in the U.S.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate is Rudy Reyes, and as of the time that I’m writing this article in August 2020, the Legal Marijuana Now Party does not appear to have selected their 2020 Vice Presidential candidate yet. Rudy Reyes has previously ran for local offices in San Diego County, California.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party does not yet seem to have their own website, so if you are interested in reading more about this party, you can do so on this party’s facebook page, facebook.com/LMN.USA.
The Libertarian Party: The Libertarian Party was originally founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party’s ideology is based on the concepts of classical liberalism. The Libertarian aspires to propose legislation which would result in government deregulation of many aspects of industry and agriculture, with the intent that deregulation would allow for greater economic freedom as well as protection of civil liberties.
2020 Presidential candidate is Jo Jorgensen, and the Libertarian Party’s 2020 Vice Presidential candidate is Spike Cohen. Jo Jorgensen is a lecturer in psychology at Clemson University in South Carolina. Jo Jorgensen has previously ran as the Libertarian Party’s candidate for the U.S. House Of Representatives from South Carolina in 1992, and she was this party’s candidate for Vice President in 1996.
Spike Cohen posts a series of podcasts on the Muddy Waters Media website. 2020 is the first year that Spike Cohen is running for office. During this year’s primaries, Spike Cohen had purposefully taken a notably more humorous approach to addressing the 2020 elections than the Libertarian’s other candidates this year, including John Monds and Ken Amrstrong. Jo Jorgensen had seemed to prefer that John Monds or Ken Armstrong would become her running mate this year, but Spike Cohen did receive more votes in the primaries than John Monds and Ken Armstrong did, and so he is now the party’s candidate for Vice President.
The Libertarian Party’s website is lp.org.
The Life and Liberty Party: The Life And Liberty Party is another party whose views on political issues are based partially on their interpretations of various religious ideologies, so I’m intentionally keeping my description of this party’s ideologies brief so that readers will draw your own conclusions about them. The Life And Liberty Party opposes abortion, euthanasia as well as capital punishment.
The Life And Liberty Party’s 2020 candidate for President in J.R. Meyers and this party’s Vice Presidential candidate is Tiara Lusk. J. R. Meyers presently works as a mental health counselor in Alaska. Earlier in his career, he had the director of a health clinic in Montana, and he had been involved in establishing a branch chapter of the NAACP in Montana. J.R. Meyers has previously ran as the Constitution Party’s candidate for governor of Alaska in 2014. He filed to be nominated as the Constitution Party’s Vice Presidential candidate in the 2016 elections, but the party had opted for another candidate in 2016. J. R. Meyers also ran as the Constitution Party’s candidate for a seat in the Alaska House Of Representatives in 2016.
Tiara Lusk is presently an instructor at Western Nevada College. This is the first year that Tiara Lusk is running for political office.
For those readers who are interested in learning more about these candidates and this party, the Life And Liberty Party lists a detailed description of the issues that they advocate for on their website, lifeandlibertyparty.com.
The Oregon Progressive Party: The Oregon Progressive Party is a moderate/ left party, which advocates for ending racism, workers’ rights, they advocate for further investing in green technologies and they advocate for the U.S.’ withdrawal from some international conflicts.
As of the time that I’m writing this article, the Oregon Progressive Party has not yet officially confirmed a Presidential and a Vice Presidential candidate for the 2020 elections. The Oregon Progressive Party may announce who their candidates for the 2020 elections will be soon, and when they do finalize their candidates, they will post the information about their Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates on their website, so if you want to read up- to date information about their candidates, the link to their website, is progparty.org.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation: The Party For Socialism And Liberation is a far left party which bases their platforms regarding domestic and foreign policy issues on the ideologies of socialism and communism. The Party For Socialism And Liberation was founded in 2004 when a number of people within the World Workers Party opted to split from the WWP and form their own party, which they felt was more suited to address a number of domestic and foreign policy issues in the U.S. in the 21st century.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation 2020 Presidential candidate is Gloria La Riva and this party’s 2020 Vice Presidential candidate is Sunil Freeman. Gloria La Riva has worked as a political documentary film maker, and she has translated Fidel Castro’s 1997 book Cuba At The Crossroads into English. Gloria La Riva has previously run as the Workers World Party Presidential candidate in 1992, in 2010, she has run as their Vice Presidential candidate in 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000, and she ran as the Peace And Freedom Party’s candidate for mayor of San Francisco in 1983. Gloria La Riva ran as the Peace And Freedom Party’s candidate for governor of California in 1994, 1998 and more recently again in 2018, and in 2010 she ran as the Peace And Freedom Party’s candidate for a seat in the U.S. House Of Representatives from California, and Gloria La Riva was the Party For Socialism And Liberation’s Presidential candidate in 2016.
Sunil Freeman is a writer, he has been active in the Party For Socialism And Liberation since 2005. This is the first year that Sunil Freeman is running for a political office.
The Party For Socialism And Liberation’s website is pslweb.org.
Gloria La Riva and Sunil Freeman will also appear on the ballots in some states as the candidates from the Liberty Union Party as well as the candidates from the Peace And Freedom Party this year.
The Prohibition Party: You’ve probably never heard of The Prohibition Party. The Prohibition Party was originally founded in 1869, so the Prohibition Party is now the oldest political party in the U.S. The Prohibition Party is not a single issue party; as their name implies, one of the primary issues which Prohibition Party concentrates on is advocating for outlawing alcohol throughout the U.S., though there are a number of other issues which the Prohibition Party advocates for, including proposing legislation which would outlaw all forms of gambling, pornography and abortion throughout the U.S.
The Prohibition Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate is Phil Collins and this party’s Vice Presidential candidate is Billy Joe Parker. Phil Collins is a military veteran, he was in the U.S. Nave for 11 years, and he was in the Naval Reserves for another 11 years. He has worked as an account executive in a public relations company. Prior to joining the Prohibition Party, Phil Collins had been a member of the Republican Party. He ran as a write- in candidate for a seat in the U.S. House Of Representatives from Pennsylvania in 2012 and 2014. Phil Collins was elected to a trustee position in Liberty Township, Pennsylvania in 2013.
Billy Joe Parker served in the U.S. Marines from 1958 through 1962, and he has worked a number of industrial jobs from the 1960’s through the early 2000’s. This is the first year that Billy Joe Parker will be running for a political office.
The Prohibition Party’s website is prohibitionparty.org.
The Reform Party Of The United States Of America: The Reform Party is particularly complicated to describe because this party’s views on many domestic and foreign policy issues seems to change dramatically every four years. The Reform Party was originally created in 1995 by Ross Perot. Ross Perot’s original intention was to end the 2 party system which candidates from the third parties sometimes refer to as the “two party duopoly.” His original intention was for the Reform Party to be a party which become a platform for people whose views differ from those of the Democrats and the Republicans.
Since the Reform Party was originally created back in 1995, the Reform Party has been successful insofar as this party does offer a platform for people who have views on many issues which differ from the views of the 2 major parties. However, the Reform Party does not seem to have any doctrine or series of ideologies which they adhere to, so since 1995, the Reform Party has run a number of candidates for various state offices as well as for President and Vice President whose views on many issues directly contradict the views of this party’s candidates from the previous years. Since 1995, Pat Buchanan, Donald Trump, Ralph Nader as well as the former governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura have all been active within the Reform Party.
This year, the Reform Party’s presidential candidate will be Rocky De La Fuente and the Reform Party’s Vice Presidential candidate is Darcy Richardson. Rocky De La Fuente has been an owner of auto dealerships, he has owned banks in California, and he has also owned various businesses in Mexico and South America. He has been in legal disputes for embezzlement regarding the banks that he owned. In 2004, the FDIC prohibited him from owning any banks in the United States, though he appealed this decision and Federal Courts overturned part of the FDIC’s decision about him.
Rocky De La Fuente had attempted to run as the Democrat’s Presidential candidate in 2016. After He was eliminated early in the primaries, he founded the American Delta Party. He also attempted to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Florida in 2016. He was eliminated in the primaries for the Senate seat in 2016. In 2017, he attempted to get nominated the Republican Party’s candidate for mayor of New York City, though he was forced to drop the campaign due to the fact that he was not a resident of New York City, and furthermore he did not receive enough signatures to qualify for ballot access. In 2018 he attempted to get nominated to run as the Republican Party’s candidate for a seat in the U.S. Senate from California, and he was eliminated in the primaries..
Darcy Richardson is an author, he has written “A Nation Divided: The 1968 Presidential Campaign” (iUniverse, 2002), “Others: Third-Party Politics From The Nation’s Founding To The Rise And Fall Of The Greenback- Labor Party” (iUniverse, 2004) and “The Spirit of ’76: Eugene McCarthy’s Quest for Open Politics” (Sevierville Publishing, 2016).
Darcy Richardson had been active within a party which had been called The Consumer Party back in the 1980’s, and in 1988 the Consumer Party’s nominated him as their candidate for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. Darcy Richardson had attempted to get nominated as the Democrat’s 2012 Presidential candidate and he was eliminated early in the primaries. He had attempted to get the Reform Party’s nomination for Presidential candidate in 2016, but the party opted to run Rocky De La Fuenta as their candidate 4 years ago. Two years ago, Darcy Richardson ran as the Reform Party’s candidate in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial elections.
The Reform Party’s website is reformparty.org.
In some states, Rocky De La Fuente and Darcy Richardson will also be appearing on the ballot this year as the candidates from The Alliance Party.
The Socialist Equality Party: The Socialist Equity Party is another party which attempts to address the U.S. domestic and foreign policy agenda based on the principles of socialism. The Socialist Equality Party was founded in 1995, the Socialist Equality Party was formed when a party which had been known as The Workers League was closing. The party’s predecessor, The Workers League had formed in the mid 1960’s, when there were differences in opinion regarding Fidel Castro and Cuba within the Socialist Workers Party, whom I will be discussing next.
The Socialist Equality Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate will be Joseph Kishore, and his running mate is Norissa Santa Cruz. Joseph Kishore has been active within the Socialist Equality Party since 2008, and he writes on the World Socialist website. This is the first year that Joseph Kishore is running for a political office.
Norissa Santa Cruz has been active within the Socialist Equality Party since 2013, and this is also the first year that she is running for office.
A full description of the issues that the Socialist Equality Party advocates for can be found on the party’s website, socialequality.com.
The Socialist Workers Party: The Socialist Workers Party was founded in 1938, the Socialist Workers Party formed when some members of the Communist Party USA, which had been founded in 1928 left the CPUSA to form a separate party because they felt that they could nominate candidates who were potentially more electable than the CPUSA and they felt that they could manage election campaigns more effectively than the CPUSA.
There does still appear to be a lot of overlap in the platforms of the Socialist Workers Party with the views of the aforementioned Party for Socialism and Liberation as well as with the platforms of the Socialist Equality Party. All three of these parties aspire to overhaul the present economic system in the U.S. with one that is based on the principles of socialism and communism. There are differences on the perspectives on a handful of domestic and foreign policy issues between the three parties; a close analysis on the issues which the candidates from these three parties seem to be in agreement upon compared with the issues in which their views differ can be found by comparing the websites of each of these three parties.
The Socialist Workers Party is running Alyson Kennedy as their Presidential candidate this year, and this party’s Vice Presidential candidate will be Malcolm Jarrett. Alyson Kennedy has worked as a coal miner, and she presently works at a Walmart in Texas. Ms. Kennedy has previously run as a write- in candidate in 2000 for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Missouri, Ms. Kennedy has run as the Socialist Workers Party’s candidate for vice President in 2008 as well as in 2016, and last year she ran as the party’s candidate for mayor of Dallas, Texas.
Malcom Jarret presently works as a cook at a catering company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he has been active within the Socialist Workers’ Party since 1991. This is the first year that Malcom Jarret is running for a political office.
The Socialist Workers Party posts a full description of the issues that they advocate for on the website of their party’s weekly newsletter, themilitant.com, and if you are interested in learning more about the Socialist Workers Party, there is a website called the Pathfinder Press which sells the books that people who are active within this party write.
The Unity Party: The Unity Party describes themselves as being a centrist party, insofar as there are some issues of domestic and foreign policy which they are in agreement with the Democrats, and there are other issues which their views are similar to the views of the Republican party’s.
The Unity Party’s 2020 Presidential candidate will be Bill Hammons, and this party’s Vice Presidential candidate is Eric Bodenstab. Bill Hammons describes his political views in depth on his website, but he does not provide information about the various fields that he has worked in, and I can’t find any information about what professions he has worked in. Bill Hammons has previously run as the Unity Party’s candidate for the U.S. House Of Representatives from Colorado in 2008 and 2010, he ran as the party’s candidate from Colorado for U.S. Senate in 2014 and 2016, and he ran as the party’s candidate for governor of Colorado in 2018.
Eric Bodenstab states on his website that he presently lives in the suburbs of Denver and that he presently works in Denver; he does not state what industry he works in, he does not write anything else about his previous employment history and I can’t find any further information about his employment history on any political or electoral database websites. Eric Bodenstab has previously ran as the Unity Party’s candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Colorado in 2018.
The Unity Party’s website is unityparty.us.
The Veteran’s Party of America: Despite their name, the Veterans Party Of America is not a single issue party. They are a centrist party, though the administrators in this party place a lot more emphasis on issues which effect military veterans and their families than either of the 2 major parties do.
The Veterans Party Of America’s 2020 Presidential candidate is Max Abramson. Max Abramson had previously been affiliated with the both the Libertarian Party as well as the Reform Party. He ran as the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor of New Hampshire in 2016, and he did not win the 2016 election. In 2018 he ran as the Reform Party candidates for one of the seats in the New Hampshire House Of Representatives, and he did win the 2018 election; he is currently serving in the New Hampshire House Of Representatives. In 2020, he briefly attempted to run as a candidate for President with the Libertarian Party, and then he switched to the Veterans Party Of America.
At the time that I’m writing this article, the Veteran’s Party Of America has not yet selected or confirmed their Vice Presidential candidate for the 2020 general elections. As soon as they do confirm their candidate, they will post the information about their candidates on their website; this party’s website is veteranspartyofamerica.org
In addition to the third parties, this year there are also a handful of people who are not affiliated with any parties, who are presently in the process of campaigning in some states. At the time that I’m writing this article, the people who are presently attempting to appear on the ballots who are not officially affiliated with any political parties are:
Mark Charles and Sedinam Moyowasifza- Curry: Mark Charles and Sedinam Moyowasifza- Curry will be appearing as the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates in some states. Mark Charles is from New Mexico, he is partially descendant of Navajo lineage. Mark Charles has worked as a computer programmer as well as a Reformed Calvinist pastor. He has been an activist for issues which face Native American communities for several years, most recently he was active in opposing the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.
Sedinam Moyowasifza- Curry has previously been active within the Green Party, this year the Green Party has selected Angela Walker as the party’s 2020 Vice Presidential candidate, so Sedinam Moyowasifza- Curry has decided to run as Mark Charles’ running mate and these 2 candidates are opting to run without being affiliated with any political parties.
Although they are running together, at the time that I’m writing this article, these 2 candidates do not appear to have merged their websites together yet; the websites of these 2 candidates are markcharles2020.com and sedinam2020.com.
Dario Hunter and Dawn Neptune Adams: Dario Hunter and Dawn Neptune Adams will appear on the ballots in some states this year. Dario Hunter was born to Muslim parent, and he converted to Judaism. He has worked as an environmental lawyer in Israel and he is also a rabbi. Dario Hunter was been a rabbi at 2 different synagogues in Ohio. He now lives in Los Angeles, and as far as I know, he is the only 2020 Presidential candidate who is openly LGBT.
Dawn Neptune Adams is from Maine, she is of Penobscot tribal lineage. Dawn Neptune Adams has been an activist for issues relating to Native American rights for several years, Dawn Neptune Adams writes for The Sunlight Media Collective, which is a website which concentrates on issues which effect the Wabanaki Confederacy.
Further information about the 2020 campaigns of these 2 candidates can be found on their website, dariohunter.com.
Brock Pierce: The actor Brock Pierce is also attempting to gain ballot access as a Presidential candidate this year. According to his website, among the issues that he is focusing his 2020 Presidential campaign on are “sustainability,” which refers to environmental issues, “wellness,” which refers to healthcare, “humanity” which refers to civil rights and “truth” which refers to transparency.
At the time that I’m writing this article, Brock Pierce has not yet confirmed who his running mate will be. Brock Pierce posts information about his 2020 Presidential campaign on his website, I’m assuming that he will likely announce his running mate soon, you can continue to look for an announcement about his selection for Vice Presidential candidate on his website.
Jade Simmons: The musician and author Jade Simmons will be appearing on the ballot in some states this year, she is also not affiliated with any party. Jade Simmons is a pianist/ keyboardist who has recorded and performed in a large variety of different genres of music, ranging from classical music to various subgenres of modern music. She has also appeared in live theater performances, and she has written a book which was published in 2015, which is entitled “Audacious Prayers For World Changers: Live And Pray Out Loud” (Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2015).
At the time that I’m writing this article, Jade Simmons does not appear to have confirmed her selection for her 2020 running mate yet. You can read more information about Jade Simmons’ 2020 Presidential campaign from her campaign’s website, jadesimmons.mykajabi.com/operationrestoration2020.
Lastly, both Trump/ Pence and Biden/ Harris will appear on the ballot for more than one party in some states. In addition to being the Republican Party’s candidates, in New York State, Trump/ Pence will also appear as the candidates from the Conservative Party of New York State.
In addition to being the Democrat Party’s candidates, Biden/ Harris will also appear as the candidates for the Working Families Party, and in Oregon they will also appear on the ballots as the candidates from the Independent Party of Oregon.
I would like to conclude this article by reiterating something that I’d stated at the beginning of the article.
Both the Trump/ Pence re-election campaign as well as the Biden/ Harris campaign are paying attention to many important issues relating to recent developments in domestic as well as foreign policy issues. However, there are also quite a few issues which the third parties are paying more attention to than the Democrats and the Republicans.
If you find that some of the third parties are paying more attention to some of the issues which you feel strongly about and those parties are not yet scheduled to appear on the ballot in every state, I’ve included links to the all of the third parties’ websites in this article. If some of the issues that the 2020 third parties are paying attention to are important to you and you want to try to assist these candidates with gaining access to the ballots in more states, you can begin to assist in this process by calling the telephone numbers or writing to the email addresses which are listed on the parties’ websites.