Third-party politics

Highest vote shares for independent and third-party US Senate candidates in a regular November election while opposed by both a Democrat and a Republican

Year	Candidate	Third Party	State	Vote (%)	Result	Margin
1940	La Follette Jr. (i)	Progressive	WI	45.3%	W	+3.9%
1940	Lemke	Independent	ND	35.1%	L	-3.0%
1970	Byrd Jr. (i)	Independent	VA	53.5%	W	+22.3%
1970	Buckley	Conservative	NY	38.8%	W	+2.0%
2006	Lieberman (i)	Independent	CT	49.7%	W	+10.0%
2010	Murkowski (i)	Write-in	AK	39.5%	W	+4.0%
2012	King	Independent	ME	52.9%	W	+22.1%

Note: "(i)" denotes an incumbent

Source: "The Low Success Rate of Independent and Third-Party Candidates in Senate Elections"

Based on the table above, which of the following variables made the most difference in winning an election for a third-party or independent candidate in these 7 elections?

AP®︎/College US Government and Politics

Course: AP®︎/College US Government and Politics > Unit 5

Problem