New Survey: 6 in 10 Democrats Considering Third Party Options

image
Published: 21 Jun, 2017
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
2 min read

A new survey by icitizen points to a clear opening for third-party candidates in future elections.

The online survey found that not only do 7 in 10 respondents not feel represented by the Republican or Democratic Parties, and that a third party is needed, but 6 in 10 Democratic respondents are considering voting for a third party candidate in 2020.

That is huge considering only 29 percent of Republican respondents said the same.

The wounds are clearly still fresh in the Democratic Party after the DNC tilted the presidential primary in Hillary Clinton's favor over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, were unwelcoming to non-traditional Democratic voters (i.e. Sanders progressives, independent and third-party voters, etc.), and now struggle to find a message they can win with.

ALSO READ: DNC to Court: We Are a Private Corporation With No Obligation to Follow Our Rules

It seems like many Democratic voters are looking for the lifeboats right now, and that could be good news for third-party candidates.

Here are some other key findings from the survey:

  • "68% of Democrats, 82% of Independents and over half (54%) of Republicans believe a “third party is necessary” to represent Americans’ political views."
  • "Fully 69% of Americans reported that they would be interested in the establishment of a new political party to serve as a viable alternative to the two-party system (29% not interested, 2% unsure)."
  • "Democrats (75%) and Independents (81%) are among the most interested in the establishment of a new party."
  • "Over half (53%) of Americans believe that including a third party in Congress, so that no party had a majority, would help lawmaking in the U.S. (21% obstruct lawmaking; 19% does not make a difference; 7% unsure)."

IVP Donate

“Poll results suggest that an overall majority of Americans, including Democrats and Republicans, are looking for more representation of Americans’ views and are likely to give a third party candidate a chance in 2020,” said Cynthia Villacis, Director of Polling at icitizen.

Check out the full survey results here.

Latest articles

Marijuana plant.
Why the War on Cannabis Refuses to Die: How Boomers and the Yippies Made Weed Political
For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American physicians freely prescribed cannabis to treat a wide range of ailments. But by the mid-twentieth century, federal officials were laying the groundwork for a sweeping criminal crackdown. Cannabis would ultimately be classified as a Schedule I substance, placed alongside heroin and LSD, and transformed into a political weapon that shaped American policy for the next six decades....
30 Jun, 2025
-
2 min read
Donald Trump standing behind presidential podium and in front of two American flags.
Has Trump Made His Case for the Nobel Peace Prize?
A news item in recent days that was overshadowed in the media by SCOTUS and the One Big Beautiful Budget Bill was a US-brokered peace agreement that was signed between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – which if it holds will end a conflict between the two countries that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of people....
30 Jun, 2025
-
7 min read
Picture of skyscraper in New York behind a bridge.
Knives Come Out Against Reform at NYC CRC Hearing as Independents Rise
Last week in Staten Island, the NYC Charter Revision Commission held its next-to-last public hearing. As Commissioner Diane Savino commented, addressing NYC's closed primary system “is the single biggest issue we’ve heard this year.”...
30 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read