Topline
A former Trump attorney is representing Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein at the Supreme Court as she tries to keep her name on Nevada’s ballot—claiming they’re trying to protect democracy—the latest instance of officials aligned with a major party reaching across the aisle to help out third-party candidates who could siphon support from their opponents.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks at a rally during the Democratic National … [+]
Key Facts
Jill Stein: Jay Sekulow, working for conservative-leaning legal group American Center for Law and Justice, is listed as the counsel of record in the Nevada Green Party’s Supreme Court challenge against a recent court decision, which ruled Stein and other Green Party candidates should be kept off the state’s ballot due to a paperwork error.
Sekulow’s legal group called the Nevada Democratic Party’s lawsuit challenging the party’s candidates “a blatant attempt to clear the field for Kamala Harris’ campaign,” claiming, “If the legal system can be weaponized against any party or candidate” like the Nevada Green Party, then “it can be used against your preferred candidate.”
Sekulow, who has not yet responded to a request for comment, has long aligned himself with former President Donald Trump and worked as his personal lawyer when he was in the White House, including representing the then-president during his 2020 impeachment trial and in the Mueller investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Stein has also reportedly accepted legal help in Wisconsin from attorney Michael Dean, who previously represented Trump in the state when the ex-president was trying to challenge the 2020 election results.
In addition to legal support, Republican operative Jefferson Thomas and his firm helped gather signatures for Stein in New Hampshire, the Associated Press reported.
Cornel West: The well-known writer and activist, who’s running on a platform to the left of Harris, has garnered help in getting on the ballot from Republican-aligned groups in states including Arizona, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to the AP, which reported in September a “network” of GOP organizations and lawyers are working to boost West’s candidacy.
Republican-aligned lawyers have helped West get on state ballots, and paid operatives who have previously worked for GOP campaigns have helped gather signatures for West in states including Arizona and North Carolina, NBC News reports—singling out a Republican activist at a North Carolina Trump rally who was gathering signatures for West by telling voters it “helps take away votes from [then-candidate] Joe Biden.”
Two lawyers with GOP ties visited potential West electors at their homes to persuade them to support the candidate, the AP reported, with one would-be elector telling the outlet the lawyers’ only goal was “to get [West] on the ballot so some votes would go to him and not go to other people.”
Randall Terry: The New York Times reported in August that Democratic operatives were working to boost Terry—an anti-abortion activist representing the Constitution Party—with anonymous sources telling the Times Democratic donors had funded a signature-gathering effort to get Terry on Pennsylvania’s ballot and had floated other plans, including funding ballot-access efforts for the candidate and using an anti-abortion organization to publicize Terry’s views to conservative voters.
Crucial Quote
“The path to victory here is clearly maximizing the reach of these left-wing alternatives,” former Trump advisor Steve Bannon told The Times in April, before he was sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress. “The more exposure these guys get, the better it is for us.”
What About Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who launched a third-party bid but has since suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump—threatened to siphon votes from both parties’ candidates while he was still in the race, with both Democrats and Republicans launching efforts in response. Democrats filed lawsuits seeking to remove Kennedy from state ballots, while The New York Times reported Republicans created a super PAC aimed at painting Kennedy as a pro-abortion rights liberal in order to get him votes from the left. Trump allies also discussed promoting Kennedy’s environmental record to try to sway Democratic voters, The New York Times reported, and Kennedy got a number of donations from major right-wing donors, including billionaires Timothy Mellon and Elizabeth Uihlein. Since he endorsed Trump, Kennedy has himself sued to get off the ballot in battleground states, but is still expected to remain on the ballot in Michigan and Wisconsin after courts ruled against him.
What Have The Candidates Said About Getting Operatives’ Support?
Stein and West have embraced their support from Republicans. “When the Democrats put us in a position of having to respond to a legal challenge, we’re going to take the help that’s available to us,” Stein’s campaign manager Jason Call told CBS News about the Nevada challenge. “We understand that Republicans are going to want to help us for their own reasons, but our reasons are for democracy.” West has similarly shrugged off getting Republicans’ support, telling the AP, “American politics is highly gangster-like activity” and he “just wanted to get on that ballot.” In a statement to The Times, Terry embraced Democrats’ reported support but warned about the impact of boosting him, saying, “For every one voter who leaves Trump to vote for me, there’s going to be 20 Democrats who say, ‘Oh, my God, he’s right.’” “On election night, when you see the margin that [Harris] loses by and you see my name and how many votes I got, we’ll be able to do the math,” he claimed.
Surprising Fact
Trump himself has praised Stein and West because of their potential “spoiler” effect that could help his election chances, saying at a June rally, “He’s one of my favorite candidates, Cornel West, and I like her also, Jill Stein.” “I like her very much,” Trump continued. “You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%.”
Where Will Third Party Candidates Be On The Ballot?
Legal challenges are still ongoing in some states over which candidates will be on the ballot—such as the Nevada Green Party’s challenge at the Supreme Court—so it’s still not quite final where candidates including Stein, West and Terry will be an option for voters. West and Stein are currently set to be on the ballot in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin—along with other non-battleground states—while Stein will also appear in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Terry is expected to appear on battleground state ballots in Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, according to a tracker compiled by NBC News.
Will Third-Party Votes Make A Difference?
Quite possibly. With the presidential election expected to be a close race in battleground states, even a small number of votes for third-party candidates could make a difference in who wins. Polling averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight show Harris and Trump are within roughly a point of each other in most battleground states, though Harris is leading by a slightly larger three-point margin in Wisconsin. Both Stein and West have polled at approximately 1% support each in recent national polls.
Contra
While Republicans and Democrats are giving third-party candidates a boost in court and garnering grassroots support, they’re not helping them out financially: Both Stein and West are nearly broke, with Stein ending July—the most recent date for which filings are available—with only $140,286 in cash and West ending that month with only $12,120. Neither campaign has raised more than $1.7 million this election cycle. West did get a financial boost last year from Harlan Crow, the GOP donor and real estate magnate who’s become best known for the lavish luxury vacations and other gifts he’s given Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, however. Crow donated $3,300, the maximum amount he could give, to West’s campaign in Aug. 2023, which West defended. The candidate said on X that though he and Crow have “deep political differences,” he has known the real estate magnate in a “non-political setting for some years,” and West claimed he is “unbought and unbossed” by his political donors. West later said he returned the donation amid the controversy over Crow’s support.
