See additional coverage here at Washington Post:

On Tuesday morning, Politico reported that a group of prominent conservatives was trying to develop a strategy to run a third-party candidate against Trump, should he win the nomination. The plan is in the “embryonic” stage, according to Politico’s Shane Goldmacher, but perhaps there is at least an option to give those Republicans looking for a third party something to look at.

Or, perhaps not. When Michael Bloomberg was still considering a third-party bid, MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin looked at what it would take to get on the ballot. In Texas, for example, an independent candidate would need tens of thousands of signatures by May 9 in order to get on the ballot. A more likely scenario would be finding a candidate who could run on a party line that’s already likely to qualify for the ballot in enough states to make a difference. Sarlin points out that the Libertarian Party will likely hit that mark — meaning that conservatives could find themselves in the unusual position of encouraging Republicans to avoid the Republican candidate for president and vote for the Libertarian, at least this once. If they find a candidate. And if everything else falls into line.