After Cornel West Joins 2024 Presidential Race, Democrats Voice Concerns About Third-Parties Splintering Their Vote

Cornel West, a progressive activist and professor, announced his presidential campaign. He joins the race with the People’s Party, a third party formed by a former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer.

West made the announcement in a video posted to Twitter. “I am running for truth and justice as a presidential candidate for the People’s Party to reintroduce America to the best of itself,” he wrote. The video has been viewed by 18.5 million users.

Emphasizing a desire to bring “truth” to politics, West discussed poverty, mass incarceration, wars, housing and more. He is known for his progressive activism and harsh criticism of former President Barack Obama.

The People’s Party was formed by Nick Brana after he worked on Sanders’s campaign in 2016. The party tried to recruit Sanders in 2020, but the senator declined their requests and ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020.

West, the only third-party candidate so far, joins a heated race. So far, three Democrats and ten Republicans are seeking the executive office.

Still, many Democrats expressed fears that a left-wing third party could splinter the progressive vote and hand the White House back to Donald Trump in 2024.

Article by Quinn Casey

Quinn Casey is a rising junior at Williams College. He is a political science and studio art double major and leadership studies concentration from Scranton, Pa. He is an political reporting intern. Email: tqc1@williams.edu.