What Will Be the Effect of 3rd Parties In This Year’s Election?

Jack Lessenberry Politics & Prejudices

There’s no question that some people blame third parties – especially the Libertarians and the Green Party – for Donald Trump’s surprising election four years ago. Six million people voted for either the Green or Libertarian candidates for President, and the difference was more than Trump’s winning margins in most states, including Michigan. But the leaders of those parties say that not only do they have as much right as the Republicans or Democrats to run, they aren’t running to tip any election, they are running to let people know what they believe in and stand for and try to win support. Well, how will all that play out this year? Joining us now to talk about their parties and the 2020 campaign are two people who have been down this way before. Jennifer Kurland was the Green Party nominee for governor of Michigan in 2018 and polled nearly 30,000 votes. She is now the party’s communications director, and thinks that despite the conventional wisdom, the Greens might do even better this time, noting “we have some conservative ideas as well as liberal ones.” Bill Gelineau became the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor two years ago after winning the party’s first-ever statewide primary election. He didn’t win but got nearly 60,000 votes. He’s been building the party for years and is a successful business owner in the Grand Rapids area.