This article contains lists of official third party and independent candidates associated with the 2012 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. An independent candidate is one who runs for office with no formal party affiliation.
Those listed as candidates have done one or more of the following: formally announced they are candidates in the 2012 presidential election, filed as candidates with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and/or received the presidential nomination of their respective party. They are listed alphabetically by surname within each section.
vote totals on ballots representing 270 electoral votes. All other candidates were on the ballots of fewer than 10 states, 100 electors, and less than 20% of voters nationwide.
No candidates were "spoilers", i.e. having a greater total in any state greater than the margin between the top two candidates.
The following people were the focus of presidential speculation in past media reports, but ultimately decided to not run for the nomination of the Libertarian Party.
Ron Paul, U.S. Representative of Texas, candidate for the Republican 2012 presidential nomination, and 1988 Libertarian Presidential nominee.
Wayne Allyn Root of Nevada, entrepreneur and 2008 Libertarian vice-presidential nominee.
The following people were the focus of presidential speculation in past media reports, but ultimately decided to not run for the nomination of the Green Party.
Jello Biafra, musician and Green Party activist of California
Van Jones, former White House Green Jobs Czar
No nominee
Americans Elect announced on May 17, 2012 that it would not field a candidate for president, as no candidate garnered enough support in the organization's online primary to reach its self-imposed threshold for the nomination.
Candidates
The following were the only four declared candidates to achieve more than 1,000 supporters for the presidential nomination of Americans Elect prior to the organization's announcement that it would not field a 2012 presidential candidate:
The following people were the focus of presidential speculation in past media reports, but ultimately decided to not run for the nomination of Americans Elect.
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks
The following people were the focus of presidential speculation in past media reports, but ultimately decided to not run for the nomination of the Constitution Party.
Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
No nominee - the Boston Tea Party dissolved itself on July 22, 2012, citing decline in membership activity.
The following are the additional candidates who qualified for either ballot status (bolded) or as a formally recognized write-in candidate (italics):Richard Duncan (Independent) - Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, West Virginia
Samm Tittle (We The People) - Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Utah, West Virginia
Jill Reed (Twelve Visions) - Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Utah
Dennis Knill (Independent Democratic) - Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Utah, West Virginia
Ron Paul (R) Note: Draft Effort - California, Maine
Paul Chehade (Independent) - Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, West Virginia
Avery Ayers (Independent) - Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Texas
Nelson Keyton (Independent) - Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia
Erin Kent Magee (Independent Republican) - Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Utah, West Virginia
Barbara Ann Prokopich (Independent Republican) - Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, West Virginia
Thaddeaus Hill (Madisonian-Federalist)- Texas
Will Christensen (American Independent Party) - Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, Oregon, Utah
Cecil James Roth (Pro Se Party) - Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia
Randall Terry (Independent) - Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, West Virginia
David C Byrne (Independent) - Alaska, Florida, Georgia
Dean Morstad (Constitutional Govt.) - Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, West Virginia
Andrew Charles Coniglio (Independent) - Florida
Beverley Simmons-Miller (Independent) - Illinois, West Virginia
Michael W Hawkins (Together Enhancing America) - Illinois
James T. Struck (Independent) - Illinois
Mary Anne Tomkins Segal (Independent) - Illinois
Roy Wayne Tyree (Independent) - Illinois
Darrell Hykes (Independent) - Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Utah, West Virginia
Rick Rogers (Independent) - Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, West Virginia
Michael Vargo (Independent) - Ohio
Susan E Daniels (Independent) - Ohio
Amitabh Ghosh (Independent) - Michigan
Daniel T Holloway (Independent) - Michigan
Katherine Houstan (Independent) - Michigan
Raymond T O'Donnell (Independent) - Michigan
John Dummett (Independent Republican) - Idaho, Indiana, West Virginia
Jeff Boss (NSA Did 9/11) - New Jersey
Gerald L Warner (Independent) - Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Montana
Tracey Elaine Blair (Independent) - Indiana
Terry Jones (Independent) - Indiana
Platt Robertson (Independent) - Delaware, Idaho, Montana, Ohio, West Virginia
Michael A Simoneaux, Jr (Independent) - Indiana, Maryland, Montana
Ted Brown, Sr (Independent) - Idaho, Maryland
Michael Boyles (Independent) - Maryland
Tiffany Briscoe (Independent Democrat) - Maryland
Fred Dickson Jr. (Independent) - Maryland
Rob Dietz (Independent) - Maryland
Matthew Lydick (Independent Republican) - Maryland
Dwight French (Independent) - Maryland
Bruce Mlynski (Independent) - Maryland
Deonia P Neveu (Independent Democratic) - Maryland
Gerald Warner (Independent) - Alaska, Connecticut
Kevin M Thorne (Independent) - Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland
David Michael Crosby (Independent) - Alaska, Maryland, West Virginia
Louise Todd House (Independent) - Kentucky
Keith Russell Judd (Independent) - Idaho, Kentucky
Jerry Carroll (Independent) - Montana, West Virginia
Joe Schriner (Independent) - Montana, West Virginia
Raymond Sizemore (Independent) - Connecticut
Barbara Dale Washer (Mississippi Reform) - Mississippi
Chuck Baldwin (Kansas Reform) Note: Draft Effort - Kansas
Kent W Bush (Independent) - Kansas
Jerry Litzel (Independent) - Iowa
Justin Myers (Independent) - Utah
Robert Brown (Independent) - West Virginia
Cam Ray Lemley (Independent) - West Virginia
Dennis Andrew Ball (Independent) - Idaho, Montana
Joan Breivogel (Independent) - Idaho
Bonnie Lynn Davis Grace (Independent) - Montana
Ronald C Hobbs (Independent) - Idaho
Val Kittington (Independent) - Montana
Leah Lax (Independent) - Montana
David Librace (Independent) - Idaho
Kip Lee (Independent) - Idaho, Montana
Alex Logston (Independent) - Montana
Reverend Merepeace-Msmere (Independent) - Idaho
Charles Frederick Tolbert (Citizens for a Better America) - Idaho
Chance White (Independent) - Idaho
John Wolfe, Jr. (Independent Democratic) - Idaho
The following people were the focus of presidential speculation in past media reports, but ultimately decided not to run as independent candidates.
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, (Draft movement)
Lou Dobbs, broadcast journalist and commentator, of New Jersey
Ralph Nader, attorney, Consumer advocate, and perennial presidential candidate of Connecticut
Ron Paul, U.S. Representative, of Texas
Bernie Sanders, Senator, of Vermont.
Donald Trump, businessman and television personality, of New York
Ran for president in 2016
Jesse Ventura, former Governor of Minnesota
