Green Party candidate Jill Stein is running for president – how many votes is she expected to take away from Democratic incumbent Joe Biden?

Jill Stein, 73, announced on Thursday that she is launching a presidential campaign for what will be her third election – having successfully snubbed votes from her fellow candidates in 2012 and 2016.  

LeBeau Kpadenou – a spokesman for Stein’s campaign – confirmed that she is seeking the Green Party’s nomination yet again. 

In her campaign announcement – the Green Party member accused Democrats of betraying their promises for working people, youth and the climate – and said that Republicans don’t even make such promises in the first place.

The Harvard graduate took a backseat during the 2020 election despite receiving 1,457,216 votes and coming in fourth in 2016 – a substantial increase in popularity compared to the 469,015 votes she garnered in 2012.

Stein claimed 1.07 percent of the popular vote in the 2016 election – her fellow Green Party member Howie Hawkins only gained 0.2 percent of the popular vote in 2020. 

Jill Stein, 73, announced her presidential campaign as she  seeks the Green Party’s nomination for the third time – following her 2012 and 2016 stints on the ballot 

This could indicate that a weak Green Party candidate made way for a Biden win – while Stein, a stronger candidate based on numbers, could have detrimental effects on Biden’s prospects. 

Biden’s allies are worried that a strong third party candidate might pull crucial votes away from the current President and make a Trump presidency more likely.

Democrats blamed Stein for contributing to Clinton’s 2016 loss against Trump after she pulled votes from the party in key swing states including Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Stein along with the Libertarian Party’s 2016 candidate  – Gary Johnson – stole crucial support from Clinton in states where it mattered the most. 

If all of Stein’s supporters and only half of Johnson’s supporters had voted for Clinton in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – the states would have flipped blue.

The latest poll shows that Biden is in trouble at 45% as Trump inches ahead at 49% 

Stein’s campaign could be equally if not more damaging to Biden’s re-election aspirations in the upcoming election – especially as support for him is wavering, according to recent polls. 

A poll released by CNN on November 7 that asked registered voters who they would support if the presidential election were held today showed Trump leading with 49 percent of votes – as Biden fell behind with only 45 percent.

Polls from July 2016 showed Stein gaining support from three percent of registered voters – one percent less than the election outcome. The same polls placed Johnson at nine percent – which was also one percent less than the amount of votes he received on election day.

While Stein is yet to enter the polls – if she gains as much of the votership as she did in 2016 she could be a threat to Biden’s already depleting chance of re-election. 

As of 2017 – California, a strong blue state, have elected the most Green Party members to office. But swing states like Pennsylvania (31 office-holders) and Wisconsin (23 office-holders) have also shown support for Green Party politicians.

If Green Party voters in Wisconsin – a red state in the 2020 election – support Stein in 2024, those votes could pull key numbers away from Biden. 

Democrats blamed Stein for contributing to Clinton’s 2016 loss against Trump after she pulled votes from the party in key swing states 

Pennsylvania was blue in 2020 – when the Green Party’s candidate Howie Hawkins only received 0.2 percent of the popular vote – but could see different results with a stronger candidate from the party.

 ‘Change won’t come from the ruling elites. It comes from we the people,’ is the message that Stein is sending in her 2024 Presidential campaign.

The Green Party member – who missed the mark in 2012 and 2016 – is promising to create living-wage jobs for all Americans and an economic bills of rights which ensures the right to a job, to health care, to housing, to food and to education.

Stein pledged to abolish student debt and medical debt as well as creating a Green New Deal to fight climate collapse.

‘People are tired of being thrown under the bus by wealthy elites and their bought politicians,’ she said in her campaign announcement. ‘Tired of living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay the rent, locked in student debt and medical debt, child poverty rising, rising diseases of despair and growing hopelessness.’

‘The political system is broken, the two Wall Street parties are bought and paid for. Over 60 percent of us now say the bipartisan establishment has failed us.’

Stein said she’s running for President to offer the choice of ‘a party that serves the people’ on the 2024 ballot – claiming the two-party system has failed.

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins only gained 0.2 percent of the popular vote in 2020 – compared with Stein’s 1.07 percent in 2016

Stein pledged to abolish student debt and medical debt as well as creating a Green New Deal to fight climate collapse in the campaign video she shared on X (formerly known as Twitter)

Stein will be joining two other independent and third-party candidates on the ballot – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West

‘We’ll put solutions to the crises we face – crushing inequality, endless war and climate collapse.’

‘The ruling parties that got us into this mess aren’t getting us out. Both parties are squandering trillions on the endless war machine, fueling conflict around the world – while tens of millions here at home lack food, housing, healthcare.’

Stein along with the Libertarian Party’s 2016 candidate – Gary Johnson (pictured) – stole crucial support from Clinton in states where it mattered the most

The Green Party leader said that both parties are dangerous to democracy because they are expanding censorship , criminalizing protests, throwing competitors off the ballot and suppressing debate. 

Stein will be joining two other independent and third-party candidates on the ballot – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West.

RFK Jr. has gained a following who appreciate his outspoken anti-vaccine rhetoric and conspiracy theories. He initially ran for the Democratic nomination but announced in October he would enter the race as an independent candidate.

Cornel West is a philosopher and political activist who initially said he would run for the People’s Party, then switched to the Green Party and has finally decided to run as an independent.

Voters that are unsure and uninspired by the presidential race’s front runners could be swayed by Stein, Kennedy and West – which has the potential to replicate 2016’s results in key swing states.