• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, January 8, 2016

For a country that by and large has a two-party political system, we have an abundance of third-party and independent candidates running for president.

Curiously, among the 38 citizens registered as third-party candidates in 2016: Chris Keniston, an aircraft maintenance professional, Daniel Zutler, an insurance manager, Joy Waymire, a veteran and spiritual visionary, Brian Briggs, music lover, and Perry Morcom, a self-proclaimed middle-class working person.

Talk of independent or third-party runs started early in the cycle.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a longtime independent, is running for nomination as a Democrat, in large part to benefit from the unmatched power and organizing prowess of the Democratic National Committee. He is not actually registered as a Democrat, due to Vermont not having registration opportunities.

Former Democratic candidate Jim Webb has said that he is considering a third-party run.

On the Republican side, there is Donald Trump.

Earlier in the year, he finally agreed to sign a pledge that he would support whomever receives the Republican party nomination. In late November, however, his plans seemed to change. Other GOP candidates had been gearing up to spend on negative ads against him, in response to which Trump tweeted: “That wasn’t the deal!”

A third-party Trump candidacy would surely give the Democrats an edge on whoever eventually wins the Republican nomination.

Electoral history is rife with examples of third-party candidates derailing one party or the other, prying away just enough votes from one side.

The most recent example is Ralph Nader, running as a Green Party candidate in 2000. Many believe that had he not run, many of his voters would have sided with then-Vice President Al Gore. Gore lost by 537 votes in Florida, when the Supreme Court halted the vote count. Nader received 97,421 votes in that state.

Examples of third-party efforts go back to the beginning of the 20th century, with President Theodore Roosevelt creating his own party when he wasn’t nominated by the Republicans. More recently, Ross Perot’s candidacy damaged President George H. W. Bush’s chances for reelection in 1992; Bill Clinton won by a plurality.

This country is deeply in need of additional political parties, given the lack of cooperation between the two major parties and the extreme conservatism of the Republican Party. The Republicans could be divided up in a few ways on policy positions, as could the Democrats.

While it seems like a pipe dream to have a successful candidacy outside the traditional party system, there is a cast of characters willing to mount a challenge.