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.
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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)."
“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.