--- title: Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Still Win In This Way description: Gary Johnson and Jill Stein stand to win millions of dollars in public funding for their parties if they get can get 5% of the popular vote. canonical: https://time.com/4504687/gary-johnson-jill-stein-vote-funding/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-22T20:20:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:05.577Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Another Way Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Win og:description: Even if they lose the election. og:url: https://time.com/4504687/gary-johnson-jill-stein-vote-funding/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0dfb986a5fe32dfa/6988a71ee20a872f33a9282e/stein-johnson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Jill Stein & Gary Johnson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Another Way Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Win twitter:description: Even if they lose the election. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0dfb986a5fe32dfa/6988a71ee20a872f33a9282e/stein-johnson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Another Way Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Win > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=09768621-2b83-4a66-9c47-194f1e6c3071&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Libertarian Taking on Trump & Clinton [Watch (HLS stream): The Libertarian Taking on Trump & Clinton](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dAVW0edl.m3u8) (1:16)  _Published 2016-05-27. Donald Trump is almost certain to be the most unpopular presidential nominee of a major party in modern times. Hillary Clinton is running a close second. And voters’ historic distaste for Clinton and Trump has sparked a debate about whether a third-p_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 22, 2016 8:20 PM UTC  Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson Getty Images; AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 22, 2016 8:20 PM UTC Neither Gary Johnson nor Jill Stein cleared the 15% polling mark they needed to make it into the first debate. But there’s another magic number they can still reach that could provide a huge boon to their parties: 5%. That’s because if a political party draws 5% of the popular vote in a presidential election, it qualifies for public funding under [Federal Election Commission guidelines](http://www.fec.gov/info/chtwo.htm). So if Johnson or Stein meet the mark in November, in 2020 the Libertarian Party or the Green Party could get access to tens of millions of dollars. (The exact figure would be determined by the ratio of each of their votes to the average of Donald Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s.) The two major-party candidates often reject public funds, because they come with strings attached that ban private contributions, and a Democratic or Republican presidential candidate stands to rake in much more money fundraising on his or her own. But with the 2016 public funding pot for a major party candidate set at $96 million, even a portion of that would be significant for minor parties whose candidates are fundraising below $10 million each so far in 2016. (According to Center for Responsive Politics, [Johnson](http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00033226) has raised about $8 million and [Stein](http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00033776) about $2 million. By comparison, [Trump’s campaign](http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00023864) has raised more than $165 million and [Clinton’s](http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00000019) more than $370 million, not including spending by outside groups.) Johnson’s team has been putting the 5% goal on the back-burner as it pushes instead to reach the more ambitious 15% polling average needed to make it on the next debate stage. “There are more polls and more debates, and we plan to be on the debate stage in October,” Johnson said after he was [barred from the first debate](http://time.com/4497564/gary-johnson-jill-stein-fail-qualify-first-debate/?iid=sr-link1). “We are obviously setting our sights far higher than the 5% that would secure major party status. It isn’t part of our strategy,” Johnson spokesman Joe Hunter told TIME in a statement. “Rather, it is a benefit, albeit a historic one, of what we fully expect to accomplish in this election.” But the 5% is playing a larger role in the strategy of Stein’s campaign. While neither candidate is using the lure of funding as an explicit pitch to voters, David Cobb, Stein’s campaign manager, says their campaign is using the promise of future change to try to inspire skeptical voters. “Our message is not waste your vote on the failed policies of the two-party system. Invest your vote in a party committed to the real change we so desperately need,” he told TIME. The key is in the word “invest” — Cobb hopes voters, particularly millennials, those who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and those who are cynical about the whole electoral process, will understand that supporting Stein now could pay off for the Green Party in future elections. “We know a real political movement can’t only be run in one election cycle,” he says. “A real political revolution requires a sustained effort.” According to [a Real Clear Politics poll average](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general%5Felection%5Ftrump%5Fvs%5Fclinton%5Fvs%5Fjohnson%5Fvs%5Fstein-5952.html), Johnson is currently at about 9% and Stein at about 3%. ## Transcript Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have given the Libertarians a gift by being the most polarizing presidential candidates, possibly in the history of- [ MUSIC ] He's fiscally conservative and socially cool. [ MUSIC ] What's wrong with Donald Trump? [ LAUGH ] But in my entire life, I've never said anything as stupid as deporting 11 million illegal immigrants. [ LAUGH ] [ MUSIC ] I will be on the ballot in all 50 states alongside the Democrat and Republican candidates for president, assistant Governor Gary Johnson [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4504687/gary-johnson-jill-stein-vote-funding/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4504687/gary-johnson-jill-stein-vote-funding/"},"headline":"Here's Another Way Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Win","datePublished":"2016-09-22T20:20:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:42:05.577Z","description":"Gary Johnson and Jill Stein stand to win millions of dollars in public funding for their parties if they get can get 5% of the popular vote.","url":"https://time.com/4504687/gary-johnson-jill-stein-vote-funding/","keywords":["Campaign Finance","2016 Election","Gary Johnson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0dfb986a5fe32dfa/6988a71ee20a872f33a9282e/stein-johnson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0dfb986a5fe32dfa/6988a71ee20a872f33a9282e/stein-johnson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jill Stein & Gary Johnson","caption":"Jill Stein & Gary Johnson","creditText":"Getty Images; AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/campaign-finance/","name":"Campaign Finance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4504687/gary-johnson-jill-stein-vote-funding/","name":"Here's Another Way Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Could Win"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Libertarian Taking on Trump & Clinton","description":"Donald Trump is almost certain to be the most unpopular presidential nominee of a major party in modern times. 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