third party candidate
Independent ballot contender
A third party candidate is someone running for political office who belongs to neither of the two dominant parties in a system—in the United States, neither Democrat nor Republican.
Third party candidates rarely win major elections but can shift debate or draw votes from major candidates: Many blamed the third party candidate for splitting the vote.
- independentFree from external control
- spoilerPremature ending disclosure
- ballotVoting document
- write-inVoter-supplied ballot name
- outsiderOne excluded from group
Ross Perot · Ralph Nader · dark horse · protest vote · debate · electoral · electoral college · campaign · campaign trail · running mate · grassroots · underdog · maverick · reform · libertarian · nomination · platform · name recognition
- election participantsvoter, elector, registered voter, eligible voter, poll worker
- candidatesnominee, nominees, contender, contenders, hopeful