Will Favoring Marijuana Legalization Boost Third-Party Candidates in 2016?

image
River McLeodRiver McLeod
Published: 23 Jun, 2016
2 min read

Third-party presidential candidates, Gary Johnson and Dr. Jill Stein, do not have the same advantages as Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. However, both candidates mounted presidential bids in 2012 and may gain new political ground this election year thanks to one issue - marijuana legalization.

A recent Monmouth University poll shows third-party candidates, Johnson and Stein, sharing 13 percent of likely voters and 26 percent of the total independent voters. Johnson, the presumptive Libertarian Party nominee received 9 percent and Stein, the Green Party nominee received 4 percent.

While Stein and Johnson were pro-legalization during their 2012 campaigns, the issue did not resonate with voters enough to catapult either candidate into the forefront, but four years later, new pro-legalization voters are coming into the fold.

, "he fact that a majority of American voters favors legalizing marijuana in general shows how attitudes about the drug have changed."

Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, states in a recent poll

According to the Quinnipiac poll: 36 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats, and 61 percent of independents think the use of marijuana should be legalized - which amounts to about 54 percent of voters nationwide. The findings are similar to a 2015 Pew Poll, where strong majorities of Democrats and independents favored legalization.

Both Trump and Clinton have staked out softer positions on the issue, favoring legalizing marijuana for medicinal use only - and in Trump's case - leaving the rest up to the states.

Johnson has been outspoken, touting the economic and social benefits of legalization, not to mention sharing his own experience as the former CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc. "Marijuana products, from a medicinal standpoint, directly compete with legal prescription drugs that kill 100,000 people a year... There has not been one documented death due to marijuana," Johnson recently told the International Business Times.

Likewise, Dr. Stein supported the national legalization of marijuana in her Green Party for both nominations.

Contrary to 2012, a major party nominee also supported marijuana legalization this election. Bernie Sanders called for legalizing the recreational use of marijuana nationally, as well.

IVP Donate

The support for the legalization of marijuana is up. Whether or not the third party candidates can become a rising threat to the major parties remains to be seen.

 

 

Photo credit: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

You Might Also Like

Ethan Penner
Could This Well-Funded Independent Upend the CA Governor’s Race?
Ethan Penner, a Calabasas businessman, author, and educator with a storied career in real estate finance, has officially announced his intention to run for California governor in 2026 as an independent. On his campaign website, Penner says he is running to “disrupt the failing two-party system.” ...
12 Sep, 2025
-
5 min read
Supreme Court of the United States
Forward Party Joins Petition to SCOTUS Against State of Florida
Right now, the divide between the Republican and Democratic Parties appears beyond repair. The political rhetoric is toxic, the nation’s leadership puts party gain before lasting solutions, and few voters actually feel heard by the people elected to represent them. At a time when it seems things will only get worse from here, the Independent Voter Project filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court along with Open Primaries and the Forward Party in support of a lawsuit that targets one of the biggest culprits behind all of this....
16 Sep, 2025
-
3 min read
congress flag
Poll: 82% of Americans Want Redistricting Done by Independent Commission, Not Politicians
There may be no greater indication that voters are not being listened to in the escalating redistricting war between the Republican and Democratic Parties than a new poll from NBC News that shows 8-in-10 Americans want the parties to stop....
10 Sep, 2025
-
3 min read