Third Party Elections
Election Years in which a third party candidate walked away with any amount of Electoral votes




1912

Candidate: Teddy Roosevelt

T. Roosevelt

Party: Progressive

Popular Vote: 4,119,207 (27.4%)

Electoral Votes: 88

States: Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Washington, Pennsylvania, California (split)

*Roosevelt actually beat Democratic candidate William Howard Taft in the Electoral College;
Taft received only 8 votes

Back to Top



1924

Candidate: Robert Marion LaFollette

Bob Lafollette

Party: Progressive

Popular Vote: 4,822,856 (16.6%)

Electoral Votes: 13

States: Wisconsin

Back to Top



1948

Candidate: Strom Thurmond

Strom Thurmond

Party: Dixiecrat

Popular Vote: 1,176,125 (2.4%)

Electoral Votes: 39

          States: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee (split)

Back to Top



1960

Candidate: Harry Flood Byrd

Byrd


Party: Democrat

Popular Vote: 116,248 (0.2%)

Electoral Votes: 15

States: Mississippi, Alabama (split), Oklahoma (split)

Back to Top



1968

Candidate: George Corley Wallace

Wallace


Party: American Independent

Popular Vote: 9,446,167 (12.9%)

Electoral Votes: 46

       States: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina (split)

Back to Top



1956, 1972, 1976, 1988

*In each of these elections, a candidate got a single (1) electoral vote:

Walter Burgwyn Jones in 1956

John Hospers in 1972

Ronald Reagan in 1976

Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. in 1988


Back to Top

Controversial Elections


Electoral College Table of Contents


 
August 22nd 2007
California Democrats push popular vote measure
Los Angeles Times

LA Times staff writer Dan Morain reports on the latest move towards NPV in California.

August 22nd 2007
Stacking the Electoral Deck
The New York Times

The Gray Lady's editorial board comes out against schemes to allocate electoral votes by congressional districts, and reasserts support for the National Popular Vote plan.

August 21st 2007
A critical reform in presidential elections
The Napa Valley Register

The author explains how the Electoral College allows a candidate to become president despite losing the nationwide popular vote. He argues that Congress has blocked past attempts to reform the system, but now National Popular Vote offers a way out.

August 20th 2007
In defense of 55 electoral votes
The San Francisco Chronicle

An editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle cites the bipartisan National Popular Vote effort, and its 364 sponsors in 47 states in contrast to the wrong-headed congressional district proposal being floated in California.

August 13th 2007
Will California alter '08 race?
Christian Science Monitor

The writer evaluates California Republicans' move to have the state's electoral votes awarded by district. He concludes that it is an unfair move that will benefit only Republicans, without correcting the flaws of the current system.

[ Previous ] [ Next ]