The Commission on Presidential Debates announced today that it will not allow any third-party candidate to debate alongside Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, including Libertarian Gary Johnson.
Johnson had faltered in polling of late, dropping to an average of 9% nationwide from a high of 13%. Green Party nominee Jill Stein, who is also excluded from the debates by the decision, reached a polling high of around 4%. Conservative third-party candidate Evan McMullin has not yet been included in a nation-wide poll, despite his likely inclusion on around 40 state ballots.
Two thirds of voters in a recent poll also said they wanted Johnson to debate alongside the two major-party candidates.
The CPD had said it could make an exception if it felt that a third-party candidate was making a significant impact, or if a candidate looked like he or she could cross the 15% threshold near or at the time of the debates. This time, the CPD, which has been in charge of orchestrating the Presidential debates since the late 1980s, said in a statement that it would abide, instead, by its traditional rules.
The announcement also disqualifies Johnson’s running mate, William Weld, from participation in the October 4 Vice Presidential debate.
Johnson says that while he’s disappointed in the CPD’s decision, he’s not surprised.
Evan McMullin, for his part, called upon Johnson and Stein to agree to a separate, alternative debate, noting that Americans are clearly looking for an alternative.
“With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continuing to compete to be the most disliked presidential candidate in American history, there’s a clear desire for another option,” Sarah Rumpf, Evan McMullin’s digital director, told Heat Street. “The American people will benefit from hearing the ideas proposed by the independent candidates, and we look forward to a positive, issue-based debate.”
Stein, who had previously called for “open debates,”—and is raising money to “Occupy the Debates”—had this to say on Twitter:
She says she will now push for a Presidential discussion of single payer health care.