Politics

Cornel West Forms New Party For His Third-Party Presidential Run

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Presidential candidate Cornel West has announced the formation of a new political party to support his 2024 campaign.

West announced his campaign for the presidency on June 5, initially seeking the Green Party’s nomination, but later abandoned the party’s primary process and announced that he would run as an independent candidate. On Wednesday, West announced that he would form the “Justice for All Party” and run as its candidate for president, according to a press release obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“We’re on the move with a fifty-state strategy, establishing the Justice for All Party as a platform to gain access to the ballot in those states where it’s easier to gain access as a party, as opposed to independent,” West wrote in the press release. “This initiative is a strategic and community-driven effort to extend our reach and impact across the nation.”

Big announcement! We are establishing the JUSTICE FOR ALL PARTY, laying down the roots for proportional representation and expanded voter choice in states where establishing a party is the most expedient — starting with FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA, and the state of WASHINGTON! This… pic.twitter.com/KdHv1gK4Ci

— Cornel West (@CornelWest) January 31, 2024

The press release described the party as being “inspired by the legacies of transformative figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Dorothy Day, Rabbi Heschel, Edward Said, and Cesar Chavez.” It also indicated that the party was created as “a response to the need for a more inclusive and equitable political system.”

West, a notable academic and author of the 1993 monograph, “Race Matters,” is one of several independent or third-party candidates running in the 2024 presidential election. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who formally was a candidate in the Democratic presidential primary, is reportedly considering seeking the Libertarian Party nomination, while two-time Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who received 1% of the national popular vote in 2016, is running again.

A poll published on Aug. 4, 2023, suggested that West, in a race with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, would enable Trump to win the battleground state of Michigan. West’s potential appeal among black voters and young left-wing voters has reportedly alarmed Democratic strategists, who are allegedly trying to persuade him to drop out.

Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.