Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are the two major party candidates in the 2024 presidential election, but dozens of other people are also running.
None is on a realistic path to the White House, but the most well-known threaten to siphon away support from the Democratic and Republican candidates.
Here are the people with the greatest potential to disrupt the race.
Jill Stein
The activist and doctor ran as the Green Party’s candidate in 2012 and 2016.
Now back at 74 years old, she recently told BBC Americast that “Americans are not voting for a candidate they like… They’re generally voting against the candidate they hate the most.
“And that’s no way for a democracy to function.”
Ms Stein calls for an “economic bill of rights” that would include universal access to healthcare and a right to employment. She also vows to fight climate change, defend abortion access and transgender rights, and was recently arrested at a student protest on behalf of Gaza.
She is unlikely to get more than 2% of the vote – but that could still play spoiler to Ms Harris. Hillary Clinton supporters partly blame her for the Democrat’s narrow defeat in 2016. In three critical states, Mrs Clinton lost to Mr Trump by fewer votes than Ms Stein received.
During this election cycle, Ms Stein has accused Democrats of trying “to sue us off multiple state ballots” to cheat and “change the rules to maintain their grip on power”.
According to the party’s website, Ms Stein will be on the ballot in at least four states, though her campaign is working to be added to more states. Butch Ware, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, is her running-mate.
Cornel West
The 70-year-old activist and well-known academic has a complicated presidential bid.
He launched it in June with the People’s Party. After falling out with the group, Mr West said he would seek the Green Party’s nomination, but then changed course to run as an independent.
His socialist platform includes funding public healthcare and slashing the US defence budget. Melina Abdullah, a member of the board of directors of the Black Lives Matter Grassroots organisation, is his running mate.
He has attacked Mr Biden as a “war criminal” and Mr Trump as a “fascist pied piper”.
His candidacy could have been a threat to Ms Harris in crucial swing states like Michigan, though his request to appear on the ballot there was recently denied. He is currently on the ballot in nine states and has struggled to raise money.
His candidacy could have been a threat to Ms Harris in crucial swing states like Michigan, though his request to appear on the ballot there was recently denied. He is currently on the ballot in nine states and has struggled to raise money.
Chase Oliver
The Libertarian Party – the third biggest political party in the country – has nominated Chase Oliver as their presidential candidate, with Mike ter Maat as his running mate.
In doing so, they spurned Mr Trump and Mr Kennedy, both of whom spoke at the party’s convention this month in a bid for its support. Mr Trump received a notably unfriendly reception and lashed out at the audience during his speech.
Mr Oliver, an openly gay sales executive who previously ran on the Libertarian ticket for US congressional races in Georgia, says voters are done with picking from “the lesser of two evils”.
“I’m just about to be the age of 40. I’m living the life of a normal American,” he recently told BBC Americast.
“I understand what it’s like to go to the grocery store with the same amount of money but seeing less and less filling up the cart. Those are things that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are so far-removed from that they just can’t communicate those values anymore.”
His campaign advocates for balancing the budget, ending military support to Israel and Ukraine, closing all overseas US military bases and abolishing the death penalty.
Libertarians support small government and individual freedoms, typically pulling 1-3% of the vote from Republicans.
The party’s nominee in 2020 received more votes than Mr Trump’s margin of defeat in three battleground states.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
A former environmental lawyer known for his anti-vaccine activism, the nephew of former President John Kennedy initially sought – and failed – to run as a Democrat.
The 70-year-old then mounted an independent challenge to what he called the “two-headed monster” of American politics. Nicole Shanahan, a California lawyer and philanthropist, became his running-mate.
His populist economic message and criticism of the two major parties initially gave him a boost in the polls, on the back of the many disaffected voters unhappy with the choice of Biden or Trump, but he narrowly missed qualifying for the first presidential debate in late June.
In August, he suspended his independent run for presidency and said the principles that led him to leave the Democratic party had now compelled him “to throw my support to President Trump”. – BBC
By Bernd Debusmann Jr and Sam Cabral
