Seven Presidential Tickets Make Tennessee Ballot, While Others Fall Short

Seven presidential tickets will appear on Tennessee’s state ballot later this year, according to a list from the Secretary of State’s office. However, several candidates who initially sought to qualify are notably absent.

The published list shows that presidential candidates who qualified for the state ballot are Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Kamala Harris, Green Party nominee Dr. Jill Stein, Party for Socialism and Liberation nominee Claudia De la Cruz, Socialist Workers nominee Rachele Fruit, and independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jay J. Bowman. All tickets, except those of the Republican and Democratic parties, will be listed as independents on the ballot.

Notably, Jill Stein is paired with Samson LeBeau Kpadenou instead of the Green Party’s vice-presidential nominee, Dr. Butch Ware. Kpadenou is likely a placeholder required for petitioning purposes before the Green Party officially nominated its ticket, as he is also paired with Stein in Washington state.

Absent from the list, despite actively petitioning in Tennessee at some point, are Libertarian nominee Chase Oliver, Pirate Party-endorsed Vermin Supreme, and independent candidate Dr. Cornel West. To qualify for the ballot, candidates were required to collect 275 signatures by mid-August.

According to information previously provided to Independent Political Report, volunteers in Tennessee struggled to gather the necessary signatures to place the Libertarian ticket of Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat on the state ballot. Bill Redpath, the party’s ballot access coordinator and LNC Treasurer, reportedly diverted efforts to Tennessee to assist in gathering signatures as a result.

Richard Winger of Ballot Access News also published as of Thursday morning that the Oliver campaign fell 40 valid signatures short, having initially submitted 450. Winger adds that the campaign is currently reviewing the Tennessee Secretary of State’s findings.

While the Libertarian Party of Tennessee did not formally oppose the Oliver campaign as an organization, the state party chair denounced Oliver in a July press release, stating that the ticket did not align with the values and goals of the state party. The chair also expressed personal support for an alternate presidential ticket featuring Clint Russell, who sought the party’s vice-presidential nomination earlier this year, and Josie Glabach, a Timcast cohost known online as “The Redheaded Libertarian.”

The Vermin Supreme campaign also sought ballot access in Tennessee. Last month, Supreme shared during a TikTok livestream that Tennessee was one of two states where his campaign was collecting signatures to appear on the ballot with running mate Jonathan Realz. The campaign was also working on ballot access in Louisiana. The total number of signatures ultimately collected and submitted by the Supreme campaign remains unknown.

In addition to the two party-backed candidates, Cornel West’s independent campaign also failed to qualify, despite supporters organizing statewide canvassing events to gather signatures for the West-Abdullah ticket. However, it seems unlikely the campaign will contest West’s exclusion—or if it even submitted what petitions it had collected, as their Ballot Access HQ Map already reflects Tennessee as a state where the ticket will run as a write-in campaign.

With thanks to the Gadfly Political Podcast for sharing the list of candidates with Independent Political Report.