Despite an impressive effort and a few promising polls from Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, his effort to make the debate stage fell short. The Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Friday that only Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Party nominee will be the only two candidates who qualified for the debates on September 26, October 9, and October 19. Their running mates also qualified for October 4th's vice presidential debate.
It’s official, Trump and Clinton will be the only ones on debate stage, per commission pic.twitter.com/TwPNm5LhEV
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) September 16, 2016
Disappointing, but not shocking, news for the Libertarian Party. Johnson has been endorsed by three newspapers and many had seen him as a palatable alternative to Clinton and Trump.
While the Green Party's Jill Stein had much lower chance to make the debates than Johnson, she has gained the support of a sizable percentage of former Bernie Sanders supporters and remains quite popular in pockets of the country.