Anti-Trump independent races to get on the 2016 ballot nationwide

With 90 days until Election Day, former CIA counterterrorism officer and congressional policy staffer Evan McMullin is seeking ballot access across the country in his eleventh-hour independent presidential bid.

The seemingly quixotic campaign effort, a last-ditch attempt by Never Trump forces to ensure Donald Trump’s defeat by offering national security Republicans an alternative, was launched this week just as the GOP’s official nominee was sinking in the polls during a rough stretch punctuated by misstatements and new controversies.


“Evan McMullin enters this campaign with the means to compete in every state in America,” said Joel Searby, the candidate’s strategist, in a memo Wednesday that outlines a five-pronged approach to ensuring that the 40-year-old makes the ballot. “The McMullin campaign will fight to give voters across America the opportunity to vote for a candidate instead of against one.”

According to the full memo, linked below, McMullin’s campaign will utilize all possible options to secure ballot access at this late stage, including legal challenges in states where the deadline to make the November ballot has already passed. He has already missed more than two dozen deadlines to get on ballots across the country.

Searby also suggests that McMullin could be a viable option for the Republican Party should “the complete political collapse of Donald Trump” force the GOP to replace him as the nominee.

Recent polls have shown Democrat Hillary Clinton opening up a significant lead over Trump across the country and in swing states, although GOP officials have consistently dismissed the notion that they would consider removing Trump from atop their ticket.

Here is the memo from McMullin’s strategist.