Third-party and independent candidates for the 2008 United States presidential election

This article contains lists of official third party or independent candidates associated with the 2008 United States presidential election.

Third party is a term commonly used in the United States to refer to political parties other than the two major parties, the Democratic Party and Republican Party. The term is used as innumerate shorthand for all such parties, or sometimes only the largest of them.

An independent candidate is one who runs for office with no formal party affiliation.

Candidates who received, or ran for, the presidential nomination of a political party other than that of the two major parties in the 2008 presidential election, as well those who ran as independents, are listed below.

Candidates who qualified for minimum 270 electoral votes

The following nominees appeared on enough state ballots to theoretically obtain the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

Constitution Party

Ticket

Presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin		Running mate Darrell Castle
	Main article: Chuck Baldwin 2008 presidential campaign Pastor, conservative political activist, and Constitution Party 2004 Vice Presidential nominee. Nominated by the Constitution Party at its 2008 National Convention on April 26, 2008, with 383.8 delegates.^[1] On Election Day, Baldwin received 199,314 votes, about 0.2% of the total popular vote.^[2]		National Vice-Chair of the Constitution Party. Attorney, political activist and former Marine Corps Lieutenant from Tennessee.

Candidates

Candidate^[1]	Background	Delegates^[1]
Alan Keyes	Main article: Alan Keyes 2008 presidential campaign Political activist, former U.S. diplomat. Republican candidate for president in 1996, 2000 and 2008, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 1988, 1992, and 2004.	125.7
Max "The Swashbuckler" Riekse	Former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.^[3] Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews U.S. Constitution Party presidential candidate Max Riekse	4.5
Susan Gail Ducey	Stay at home mom and registered nurse from Kansas. Started out 2008 presidential campaign running as a Republican then switched to independent prior to seeking the Constitution Party nomination. She was also a 1996 Republican presidential candidate and made a brief run for the United States Congress in 2000 as a Republican in Oklahoma.^[4]^[5]	1
Daniel Imperato	Businessman from Florida and Libertarian Party presidential candidate.	1

Green Party

Ticket

Presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney		Running mate Rosa Clemente
	Main article: Cynthia McKinney 2008 presidential campaign Former Congresswoman from Georgia (1993–2003, 2005–2007). McKinney clinched the Green Party nomination on July 12, 2008, at its 2008 National Convention in Chicago, IL with 324 delegates.^[6] McKinney also received the endorsement of the Workers World Party in July.^[7] McKinney received 161,603 votes for 0.1% of the vote.^[2] Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews U.S. Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney		Commentator, political activist, community organizer and independent reporter from New York.

Candidates

Candidate	Background	Delegates^[6]
Kat Swift	State Party Co-Chair, progressive activist and newspaper credit manager from Texas.	38.5
Kent Mesplay	Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews Kent Mesplay, Green Party presidential candidate Inspector at the air pollution control district of San Diego County (2001–2015) from California.	35
Jesse Johnson	Filmmaker, and 2006 Senate candidate and 2004 gubernatorial candidate for the Mountain Party from West Virginia.	32.5
Elaine Brown	Former Chairwoman of the Black Panther Party from California	9
Jared Ball	College professor, journalist from Maryland.^[8] (endorsed McKinney)^[8]	8
Howie Hawkins	Co-Founder of the Green Party and Activist from New York	8

Libertarian Party

Ticket

Presidential nominee Bob Barr		Running mate Wayne Allyn Root
	Main article: Bob Barr 2008 presidential campaign Former Congressman and U.S. Attorney from Georgia. Barr won the nomination of the Libertarian Party on May 25, 2008, at its 2008 National Convention, in Denver, Colorado with 324 votes on the sixth ballot. Barr received 523,686 votes, 0.4% of the national vote.^[2] Wikinews has related news: Bob Barr wins the Libertarian Party presidential nomination		Sports handicapper, businessman, author, and TV show host from Nevada.

Candidates

Candidate^[9]	Background	Delegates (1st Ballot)
Mary Ruwart	Author of Healing Our World, research scientist, activist, candidate for the Libertarian 1984 presidential nomination and 1992 vice-presidential nomination.	152
Wayne Allyn Root	Sports handicapper, businessman, author, and TV show host from Nevada.	123
Mike Gravel	Main article: Mike Gravel 2008 presidential campaign Former U.S. Senator from Alaska. Previously a candidate for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination.	71
George Phillies	Professor of Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute,^[10] 2002 candidate for chair of the Libertarian National Committee, and 1998 Congressional candidate from Massachusetts.	49
Steve Kubby	Businessman, marijuana legalization activist, and 1998 Gubernatorial candidate from California.	41
Mike Jingozian	Software company founder from Oregon.^[11]^[12]	23
Christine Smith	Humanitarian activist, and writer from Colorado.^[13]^[14]	6
Daniel Imperato	Businessman from Florida.	1
Robert Milnes	Activist from Camden, New Jersey.^[15]	0

Independent

For independent candidates that did not achieve ballot access in enough states to win 270 electoral votes, see Independents section.

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader		Running mate Matt Gonzalez
	Main article: Ralph Nader 2008 presidential campaign Consumer advocate, Write-in candidate in 1992, Green Party presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000, and 2004 independent candidate. Announced candidacy February 24, 2008, on Meet the Press. Nader received 738,475 votes,^[2] the third highest total in the popular vote count.		Prominent lawyer and activist in San Francisco, California politics. In 2003 while a city supervisor was elected by peers on the Board of Supervisors to the presidency of the board representing a city of nearly a million people. He was a close second in a mayoral bid that won him 47% of the vote despite being outspent 6.5 to 1.^[16]

Other candidates

The nominees of the following parties appeared on fewer state ballots than needed to qualify for the minimum 270 electoral votes required to win the electoral college. These candidates could only theoretically have been elected in the unlikely event of a successful write-in campaign, or in the event that no candidate received at least 270 electoral votes. In the latter scenario, the election of the President would be determined by the House of Representatives.^{[citation needed]}

Boston Tea Party

Presidential nominee
Charles Jay	Jay was selected as the nominee of the Boston Tea Party at its online Convention held June 15–16, 2008. He was the 2004 Presidential nominee of the Personal Choice Party, which also endorsed him in 2008. Jay received 2,422 votes.^[2]

Vice Presidential nominee
Thomas L. Knapp	Blogger, political activist, of Missouri. He also ran for Congress as a Libertarian.

New American Independent Party

Presidential nominee
Frank McEnulty	President & chief financial officer of Our Castle Homes from California. McEnulty won the New American Independent Party nomination in March 2008. He simultaneously ran as the vice-presidential nominee of the Reform Party in states where the NAIP was unable to obtain ballot status.^[17] McEnulty received 828 votes in Colorado, the only state he was on the ballot.^[2] Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews Frank McEnulty, independent candidate for US President

Objectivist Party

Presidential nominee
Tom Stevens	Objectivist, educator, attorney, political activist, founder and chairman of the Objectivist Party from New York. He received 755 votes.

Vice Presidential nominee
Alden Link	Objectivist, entrepreneur, real estate developer and aviator. He holds residency in both New Jersey and New York.

Party for Socialism and Liberation

Presidential nominee
Gloria La Riva	Socialist, long-time anti-war and immigrant rights activist, of California. The Party for Socialism and Liberation announced the La Riva campaign on January 17, 2008. La Riva received the nomination of the Peace & Freedom Party in gubernatorial races in 1994 and 1998. She received 6,808 votes.^[2]

Vice Presidential nominee
Eugene Puryear	Anti-war activist, social justice organizer, and Party for Socialism and Liberation National Committee member, of Washington, D.C.

Prohibition Party

Presidential nominee
Gene Amondson	Temperance lecturer, minister, artist, and 2004 Presidential Nominee. Nominated at the Prohibition Party National Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana, September 14, 2007. Amondson received 653 votes.^[2] Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews Gene Amondson, Prohibition Party presidential nominee

Vice Presidential nominee
Leroy Pletten	Temperance movement activist from Michigan.

Reform Party

Presidential nominee
Ted Weill	Businessman, of Mississippi. Weill received the nomination of the Reform Party at its National Convention in Dallas, Texas on July 20, 2008.^[17] Weill received 481 votes.^[2]

Vice Presidential nominee
Frank McEnulty	Businessman, of California. McEnulty also ran as the presidential nominee of the New American Independent Party in the states where the Reform Party was unable to obtain ballot access.^[17]

Candidates
Daniel Imperato	Businessman from Florida who eventually joined the Libertarian Party.

Socialist Party USA

Presidential nominee Main article: Brian Moore presidential campaign, 2008
Brian Moore		Antiwar activist, independent (Green Party endorsed) candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida in 2006. Moore received the Socialist Party USA's presidential nomination at its National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri on October 20, 2007. Moore received 6,528 votes nationally.^[2] Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews Brian Moore, Socialist Party USA presidential candidate

Vice Presidential nominee
Stewart Alexander		Political activist and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate of California

Candidates
Eric Chester		Author and former economics professor. 1996 Socialist Party USA vice-presidential candidate, three-time candidate for SPUSA presidential nomination (2000, 2004, 2008).

Socialist Workers Party

Presidential nominee
Róger Calero	Socialist Workers Party candidate for President of the United States in 2004 and 2008, and for the United States Senate in New York in 2006. Calero received 5,127 votes. Because Calero was not a natural-born citizen of the United States and was ineligible for the presidency, James Harris stood in for Calero as the SWP's nominee in several states, receiving an additional 2,424 votes, giving the party a total of 7,551 votes for president.^[2]

Vice Presidential nominee
Alyson Kennedy	Laborer and political activist from New Jersey.

Independents

Candidates
Alan Keyes	Main article: Alan Keyes presidential campaign, 2008 Former Ambassador in the Ronald Reagan administration. Unsuccessfully sought the nominations of the Republican Party and the Constitution Party before beginning a campaign as an independent. In some of the states he appeared on the ballot for, he was listed as the candidate for America's Independent Party, a party formed by his supporters. Keyes received 47,694 votes.^[2] Brian Rohrbough of Colorado was Keyes' running mate.
Joe Schriner	Journalist and author from Ohio. Independent presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004.^[18] Dale Way of Michigan was Schriner's running mate.