Jill Stein Makes it Official; Bill Weld Gets Back on the Ballot

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren might have missed her shot at veep, but the state still boasts strong ties to this year's national race, at least so far as third parties are concerned, where it's been a busy start of the week for both Dr. Jill Stein and former governor Bill Weld.

Stein, 66, of Lexington, was officially nominated to lead the Green Party's 2016 presidential ballot this weekend, an event that featured a video appearance by controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

A Harvard University graduate raised outside Chicago, she has served as a Lexington Town Meeting member, and co-founded the non-profit Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities, according to her campaign biography. Stein previously unsuccessfully ran against Mitt Romney in the state's 2002 gubernatorial race as a member of the Green-Rainbow Party, as well as a 2002 run for the state's House of Representatives and 2004 bid for Secretary of State.

Weld, meanwhile, is running as vice presidential candidate on the Libertarian Party ticket alongside Gary Johnson. He submitted the necessary petitions Monday afternoon to get their names on this November's Massachusetts ballot.

Weld, 71, of Canton, was twice elected governor as a Republican in the early 1990s, and previously served as Massachusetts' U.S. District Attorney. He ran for Senate in 1996, but lost to incumbent Democrat John Kerry. Also a Harvard University graduate, Weld is originally from Smithtown, New York.

Both Weld and Stein face an uphill battle against daunting numbers.

The most recent Suffolk University poll, conducted with USA Today, put the Johnson ticket at 8 percent and Stein at 3 percent in a matchup against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who respectively received 39 and 35 percent support of those polled. Another 14 percent of people included in that July 11 Suffolk University survey said they were undecided. Post-convention national polls put Stein closer to 5 percent, and Johnson-Weld at 9 percent, according to CNN.

To participate in national debates, a candidate must achieve at least 15 percent support in national polls.

With widespread antipathy toward this year's Republican and Democratic nominees, both third-party candidates are receiving increased national attention through which they could well gain a greater foothold than in elections past.

>> Photos via Stein, Johnson campaigns