The Johnson campaign said that account is not accurate. Johnson spokesman Brian Reisinger said the senator never asked Anderson to reconsider his campaign.

“Phil Anderson seems like a nice man. Ron had a brief conversation with him and took a photo, but he never asked him to drop out of the race,” Reisinger said.

The Feingold campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry about how, if at all, it is addressing Anderson’s role in the race.

Polls: Voters from both parties mull Anderson

Anderson is general manager of Green Cab of Madison and owns Silver Compass Realty. He has never held elected office. Two years ago he ran as an independent candidate for a Dane County state Assembly seat, getting 18 percent of the vote.

Anderson hopes to capitalize on broad discontent with the two-party system and Washington, D.C., by running a campaign that bashes both.

“This particular election, we see as a huge opportunity,” Anderson said of himself and fellow Libertarians. “People are seeing more and more behind the curtain of Washington, D.C. They’re seeing all the nasty corruption, all the influence-peddling, all the dishonesty that come forth from not only the presidential candidates, but from both parties.”