(NewsNation) — As President-elect Donald Trump celebrates a victory over Kamala Harris that was decided by wider margins than many expected, third-party candidates like Jill Stein failed to factor into the final results.
Stein, who represented the Green Party on many ballots across the country, garnered 628,129 votes, or 0.4% of the electorate, The Associated Press reported. Stein, a Harvard-educated physician and environmental health advocate, finished Tuesday’s election with about 27,000 votes more than independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. received, the AP reported.
Stein, 74, finished with anywhere between 0.4% and 0.9% of the vote in the 38 states in which her name appeared on the ballot in Tuesday’s election. Stein registered 0.9% of the vote (34,953) in New Jersey, representing the biggest percentage she received Tuesday, according to NewsNation partner Decision Desk HQ.
In social media posts, Stein had posted that the nation’s establishment parties have failed Americans. She added that Republicans and Democrats “work for Wall Street and the war machine” and said that the two parties have dumped trillions “on endless wars while working people struggle and the world burns.”
“It’s time to forget the lesser evil and fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it,” Stein wrote.
What happens after Election Day? Key dates to know
Stein continued to take aim at her bigger-party competitors Wednesday.
“Once again, the two-party system has delivered a disastrous result for the American people,” Stein wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Now we must continue the uprising for people-powered politics and demand the world we deserve – which will never be delivered by the twin parties of war and Wall Street.”
However, voters failed to connect with Stein’s message in most places. However, Stein collected 18% of the vote in Dearborn, Michigan, a city just outside of Detroit that boasts a large Arab American population.
Trump won 42.8% of the vote in Dearborn, where 55% of the population is of Middle Eastern descent, the Detroit Free Press reported. Many voters who turned out to the polls in Dearborn and nearby Dearborn Heights expressed disappointment in the Biden administration’s support of Israel’s attacks in Gaza, the newspaper reported.
The Free Press reported Stein was criticized for reportedly diverting crucial votes from Hillary Clinton in her loss to Trump in 2016. Stein collected about 1.5 million votes in that election. She also previously ran for president in 2012.
The New York Times reported that Stein does not wish to play the role of spoiler but seeks instead to be heard and be counted, the newspaper reported.
“I like her very much,” Trump said of Stein at a rally earlier this year, The New York Times reported. “You know why? She takes 100% from them.”
