Independent candidate

An independent candidate, sometimes simply referred to as an independent, is a political candidate who runs for office without the nomination of any political party.

An independent candidate may run for any of the following reasons:

• Because of state ballot access laws, an independent candidate will form a one-time "political party" solely for the purpose of their campaign, for example, the "Connecticut for Lieberman Party" in 2006.
• The independent candidacy is a precursor to the formation of a new political party, such as with Ross Perot's 1992 independent campaign for President which later led to the founding of the Reform Party.
• A disaffected Democrat or Republican, believing their own party has gone in the wrong direction (or due to personal animosity against the party's candidate), will run as an independent seeking to be a "spoiler" against their own party or that candidate, such as Republican former Texas Comptroller Carole Keaton Strayhorn running to siphon votes from the party's chosen candidate, political rival Rick Perry, in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election.
• A person simply chooses to run as an independent candidate and not affiliate with a party, such as popular Texas musician Richard "Kinky" Friedman, who ran as an independent in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election.

Independent candidates usually do not win general elections. A notable example of an independent candidate winning was Jesse Ventura, the former Navy Seal and professional wrestler who became Minnesota's governor.