After that, literally every other party is an “also ran”. The largest of the independent parties is less than 1.5% the size of the Democrats. 1.490%. The Greens are 1/3rd of THAT size.
This isn’t even a comprehensive list, “No Labels” is absent, likely due to their complete inability to function.
American Independent - 715,712
Libertarian - 710,123
Independence Party of New York - 388,779
Green - 240,198
Independent Party of Florida - 195,333
Independent Party of Oregon - 134,996
Constitution - 131,901
Independent Party of Louisiana - 110,653 b
Peace & Freedom - 110,576
Independent American Party - 58,331
Working Families - 55,352
United Independent - 20,976
Alaskan Independence - 18,983
Common Sense Party - 17,322 b
New Jersey Conservative - 16,104
Independent Party of Delaware - 9,807
Socialist Party USA - 9,198
Natural Law - 6,549
Reform - 5,900
Women’s Equality - 4,468
Approval Voting - 4,046
Independent American Party of New Mexico - 3,889
Unity - 3,215
Better for America - 3,180
Oregon Progressive - 2,928
Working Class - 2,693
United Utah - 2,285
Party for Socialism and Liberation - 1,369
Bread and Roses - 1,127
Ecology Party of Florida - 1,108
The power of third parties lies not in immediate victory but in challenging the status quo and pushing the political conversation forward—every movement starts small.
You can’t challenge anything at 1.5% the size of the ruling parties.
1.5% is definitely pretty small, but it’s telling that both major parties work hard to keep third parties off the ballots. It suggests to me that even this small percentage has the potential to challenge the status quo.
Until there’s a third party that can get more than 1 to 3% of the vote, they are all “Independent Parties”.
Most folks just don’t understand the scale involved.
Party registration:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_U.S._states
Democratic - 48,019,985
Republican - 35,732,180
Independent - 34,699,567
After that, literally every other party is an “also ran”. The largest of the independent parties is less than 1.5% the size of the Democrats. 1.490%. The Greens are 1/3rd of THAT size.
This isn’t even a comprehensive list, “No Labels” is absent, likely due to their complete inability to function.
American Independent - 715,712
Libertarian - 710,123
Independence Party of New York - 388,779
Green - 240,198
Independent Party of Florida - 195,333
Independent Party of Oregon - 134,996
Constitution - 131,901
Independent Party of Louisiana - 110,653 b Peace & Freedom - 110,576
Independent American Party - 58,331
Working Families - 55,352
United Independent - 20,976
Alaskan Independence - 18,983
Common Sense Party - 17,322 b New Jersey Conservative - 16,104
Independent Party of Delaware - 9,807
Socialist Party USA - 9,198
Natural Law - 6,549
Reform - 5,900
Women’s Equality - 4,468
Approval Voting - 4,046
Independent American Party of New Mexico - 3,889
Unity - 3,215
Better for America - 3,180
Oregon Progressive - 2,928
Working Class - 2,693
United Utah - 2,285
Party for Socialism and Liberation - 1,369
Bread and Roses - 1,127
Ecology Party of Florida - 1,108
The power of third parties lies not in immediate victory but in challenging the status quo and pushing the political conversation forward—every movement starts small.
You can’t challenge anything at 1.5% the size of the ruling parties.
1.5% is definitely pretty small, but it’s telling that both major parties work hard to keep third parties off the ballots. It suggests to me that even this small percentage has the potential to challenge the status quo.