How many times have third parties won presidential elections?

- No third-party candidate has ever won a U.S. presidential election. The strongest showing for a third-party candidate came in 1912, when former President Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican Party. He ended up coming in second, with 27.4 percent of the popular vote and 88 electoral votes. read more

Some third-party candidates have managed to win congressional elections. But in presidential elections, the effect of third parties has been minimal in most cases. If a third-party candidate does manage to gain a large number of votes, as Teddy Roosevelt did in 1912 or Ross Perot did in 1992, the result skews the election. read more

Third parties have never won the general election, but it may be the way the system is flawed that keeps them from achieving success. read more