With President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump collectively polling as the least popular matchup in modern history, there’s been a lot of buzz about other potential names on the ballot.
That buzz ratcheted up in the past couple of weeks when some famous names were dropped as possible running mates for independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr. While an independent or third-party candidate isn’t expected to win… it could significantly affect the race.
When talking about the RFK Jr. bid, a couple of possible names for vice president have come up, like NFL player Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura. This matters because if JFK Jr. can garner enough votes to affect a swing state, only separated by thousands in the 2020 race -- a third party and independent candidates like Kennedy could impact who wins.
Each election cycle we see candidates who don’t have an R or D next to their name. Ross Perot drastically affected the elections in the 90s and Green Party candidate Jill Stein is widely believed to have siphoned votes from Hillary Clinton in 2016.
News4JAX asked voters if they were interested in a third option.
“Because the same old Biden and Trump. We don’t think should be in office at this point,” Kenneth Curry said.
When we asked Cindy Capell if she would be interested in a third option for President, she said “Absolutely, yes, I don’t think I would want either of them.”
“I don’t think so. They’ve kind of made up their mind. One or the other,” Ed Coppedge said.
“I think Americans feel betrayed by some of the actions that occurred around the last elections so I don’t even think a third option would be recognized,” Greg Maguire said.
RFK Jr. has been reported to be considering not only Aaron Rodgers but Jesse Ventura as a running mate. There is also the new “No Labels” party which may run a candidate. Some have wondered if Mitt Romney or Joe Manchin would run.
News4JAX Political Analyst Rick Mullaney said polls have shown many voters want someone other than Biden or Trump.
“It’s a very close race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden and a third party taking votes from either of them in swing states could have a big impact,” he said.
Mullaney added that No Labels would likely hurt Biden more but RFK Jr.’s candidacy is a little harder to gauge even though he’s a former Democrat. There’s also the logistical hurdle of getting on the ballot in states.
“No Labels is on in 16 states. They’re already on the ballot for that number. They’re seeking to get one more. We’ll have to see as RFK makes movement to get on more ballots but that does become an issue,” Mullaney said.
On the issue of Rodgers, last week, he had been discussed a lot and there had been several articles criticizing him politically, which often comes when you enter politics. But there have been reports that the RFK Jr. campaign has abandoned looking at Rodgers.
If a third-party candidate wins at least one state, that could throw off either Trump or Biden getting the 270 electoral votes they need to be President. The decision would then go to the House of Representatives.