Third Party and Independent House Candidates to Watch on Election Night 2024

My first post in months...

Hello and welcome back to Tracking Biden from the Left. I have many posts in my drafts that got started and never finished for various reasons. I should have written something after Biden dropped out, but I didn’t. I am trying to commit to writing something in January as a reflection on the Biden presidency. But this is not that.

I assume many of my readers are unhappy with the two-party system in our country. So today, on Election Night eve, I’m highlighting some Independent and third-party House of Representatives candidates who will be on the ballot tomorrow.

Without further ado…

John Wayne Howe - Alaska

Alaska is one of two states, the other being Maine, that use ranked choice voting to elect representatives to the House. This means that Independent candidates in Alaska generally receive more attention than in other states. Howe is no exception. Howe is an Alaskan running under the Alaskan Independence Party banner. The party advocates for Alaska to become an independent country. The party seems to be a mostly socially conservative libertarian-esque party. Howe finished fifth in the primary in July, receiving only 0.6% of the vote but advanced to the general election after the Republicans who finished ahead of him dropped out of the race. I don't expect Howe to do particularly well, but I am interested to see if ranked-choice voting boosts his vote total.

Juan Rey - California

California is one of two states, the other being Washington, to utilize a top-two primary system. Rey finished second in the primary with 10% of the vote and will be the only opposition to incumbent Democrat Sydney Kamlager-Dove in California’s District 37. Ray, while officially running as an Independent, is a member of the left-wing Working Class Party. He believes that housing should be a basic right and that no profitable company should be allowed to cut a single job. Rey’s chances of winning are extremely slim but it will be interesting to see how he performs and whether he attracts more conservative protest votes or a genuine progressive following. Media coverage of his campaign is essentially non-existent.

Ron Tupa - Colorado

Ron Tupa is a former Democratic Colorado state legislator who is running as an Independent in Colorado’s 7th congressional district. Tupa supports a ceasefire in Gaza and wants cuts to the United States defense budget, he also opposes the Cuban embargo. On domestic issues, Tupa says he supports the 2nd amendment but also supports an assault weapons ban, background checks, and red-flag laws, along with banning ghost guns and bump stocks. He also says he supports Medicare for All. Tupa is running under the Unity Party of Colorado banner, which has nominated Cornel West for President. Once again, the chances of Tupa winning appear slim. He has received only a small amount of media coverage and has not raised a significant amount of money. Still a candidate worth watching.

Ed Hershey - Illinois

Ed Hershey is another member of the left-wing Working Class Party and is the only opposition to Chuy Garcia for Illinois’s 4th congressional district. Garcia is a progressive Democrat so it’s interesting that this is the only house seat in Illinois with a Working Class Party nominee. Hershey was also the Working Class Party nominee for this seat in 2022 and did fairly decently, even with both a Republican and Democrat on the ballot, receiving 3.5% of the vote. He will almost certainly improve on that in 2024 but will also almost certainly not win.

Nadia Milleron - Massachusetts

Nadia Milleron is an Independent and the only candidate to challenge Richard Neal in Massachusetts’s 1st congressional district. Milleron is also the niece of Ralph Nader. Milleron has seen some press coverage, even getting a bio in the New York Times, but her website is weirdly ambiguous about where she actually stands on key issues. In 2022, the Republican nominee pulled 38.4% of the vote in this district. I’ll be pretty curious if Milleron can improve on that.

Cornelius Shea - Massachusetts

Unlike Nadia Milleron, Cornelius Shea, an independent and the only challenger to Jim McGovern in Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district, is most definitely a centrist. But like Shea, he has gotten a fair amount of media coverage being the only challenger. In 2022, the Republican pulled 33.7% of the vote in this district. Just like with Milleron, I’ll be pretty curious if Shea can improve on that.

Ethan Alcorn - Maine

Maine, like Alaska, has ranked choice voting so Independent candidates have an actual chance for votes in the state. Ethan Alcorn is an Independent candidate for Maine’s first congressional district. Multiple polls have found Alcorn pulling 4% of the vote so it seems worth it to take a look. Alcorn has gotten some coverage, but the coverage is not exactly flattering. News Center Maine said, “Deeply suspicious of the American government, Ethan Alcorn's platform weaves together libertarianism and conspiracy theories.” I question whether he will even get 4% of the vote.

Greg Kidd, Lynn Chapman, and Javi Tachiquin - Nevada

Nevada only has one district represented by a Republican, and in 2024 that district won’t feature a Democrat challenger. Usually, these races are incredibly uncompetitive and feature one challenger who mostly gets protest votes. But that isn’t the case here. Greg Kidd, running as an Independent but actually a registered Republican, is endorsed by Jacky Rosen, the Democratic Senator. There was even a poll in August that showed Kidd within 4 percentage points. Kidd generally portrays himself as a centrist but I didn’t find anything that really made him stand out as an Independent. While Kidd is by far the most notable challenger, there are two other candidates in the race: Javi Tachiquin, a libertarian, and Lynn Chapman, running as a member of the far-right Independent American party. However, neither candidate has received any real media attention. Kidd is certainly a long shot, but is running a serious campaign and I wouldn’t exactly be shocked if he were to pull off an upset,

Jose Vega - New York

Jose Vega is an Independent running in New York’s 15th congressional district, against Democrat Ritchie Torres and Republican Gonzalo Duran. Vega raised $68,446 as of June and has received a bit of media coverage so he seems worth mentioning here. Torres is also one of the most vocal defenders of Israel among Democrats in the House. The thing about Vega is that he subscribes to the LaRouche movement, which is very weird and very culty. Vega supports a ceasefire, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are pro-Palestine voters who use him as a protest vote against Torres.

Anthony Frascone - New York

Anthony Frascone may be the oddest candidate on this list. New York has fusion voting and most somewhat leftwing Democrats are also nominated under the Working Families Party ballot line. Frascone beat Democratic nominee Mondaire Jones in the Working Families Party primary in New York’s 17th congressional district by less than 100 votes. Frascone has no website and no obvious policy positions (there are many candidates like this to be fair) but the Working Families Party has disavowed his candidacy and is working hard to get people to not vote for him. This will likely be a competitive district, with Jones facing centrist Republican incumbent Mike Lawler, and I’ll be very interested in the percent of the vote for Frascone.

Gheorghe Cormos - North Carolina

Gheorghe Cormos is a Libertarian and the only candidate running against Republican incumbent Greg Murphy in North Carolina's 3rd congressional district. Cormos has the usual libertarian positions, he’s pro-legal marijuana and school vouchers, and anti-qualified immunity and “gun-free” zones. He didn’t have a chance against Murphy but I would argue his chances worsened considerably when he was arrested for shooting his own dog. The Democratic nominee for this district received 33.1% of the vote in 2022, I’ll be interested to see how low the percentage for Cormos gets in 2024.

Kevin Hayes - North Carolina

Kevin Hayes is a member of the far-right Constitution party and is the only challenger to Addison McDowell in North Carolina's 6th congressional district. Hayes is anti-abortion and anti-immigration and doesn’t seem to differentiate himself from the modern Republican Party. This will likely be the Constitution Party’s highest percentage getter for their house nominees.

Dennis Kucinich - Ohio

Dennis Kucinich was a Democratic representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013. In 2024, he’s running as an Independent against Republican Max Miller and Democrat Matthew Diemer. Miller and Diemer faced off in 2022 and actually was a somewhat close race, Miller won by a little less than 10 percentage points. Kucinich has been endorsed by RFK Jr. and Ron Paul. Kuncinch was considered liberal in his time in Congress but seems to running more as a populist this time around. His website complains about the open border, the deficit, high taxes, and endless wars. Notably, his website says nothing about Abortion or single-payer healthcare, both of which were supported by him in the past. Kucinich seems to have fallen off the deep end but so has Ohio. If an Independent were to win somewhere, Kucinich in Ohio wouldn’t exactly be shocking. He’s gotten media coverage and even an endorsement from a Newspaper. There hasn’t been any polling in this district so I really have no idea how this might end up.

Nathan Lewis and Bernard Johnson - Texas

In Texas's 19th congressional district, only an Independent and a Libertarian will challenge incumbent Republican Jodey Arrington. Neither seem like particularly notable candidates. Independent Nathan Lewis was Arrington’s only challenger two years ago and received about 20% of the vote. Lewis seems to be a libertarian Democrat but his website is odd (it’s only a wixsite). Johnson has a real site and seems to be a pretty standard Libertarian. Lewis probably has a bigger audience, but Johnson seems to be running a slightly more serious campaign. Neither will win, the only question that remains is who will do better.

Jrmar Jefferson - Texas

Jrmar Johnson is the only challenger to Democratic incumbent Jasmine Crockett in Texas’s 30th congressional district. Despite running as a libertarian, he seems to be more of a progressive Democrat. He’s a former Democrat and was the Democratic nominee for Texas's 1st Congressional District election in 2022. Johnson has not received a significant amount of media coverage. The Republican received 22% of the vote in this district in 2022, I’ll be interested to see if Johnson is able to match that.

Wes Holden - West Virginia

Wes Holden, a former staffer for Senator Jay Rockefeller, is running against Incumbent Republican Carol Miller and Democratic Nominee Chris Reed in West Virginia's 1st congressional district. Interestingly, Holden has been endorsed by three unions: West Virginia AFL–CIO, United Mine Workers of America, and Communications Workers of America. It is very rare for Independent candidates to receive serious endorsements, especially when there are Democrats and Republicans on the ballot. He seems to be fairly progressive but his website is not very specific on national policy. I don’t think Holden will win, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he outperforms the Democrat in this race.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! My uncle has started a worldwide project to allow people outside the United States to vote in the presidential election. If you are interested in that, see theworld.vote.