Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg predicted that a “credible” third party candidate would result in the House of Representatives picking the next president of the United States.
If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral College votes, the election of the president goes to the House.
“Third-party candidate, number one, it is too late to get on the ballot,” Bloomberg told CNBC. “Number two, the system is designed for a two-party race. The way our Constitution works is if somebody does not have a majority, then it goes to the House of Representatives. In a three-way race of three credible candidates, nobody would have a majority, and so it would go to the House, and if the House is in Republican hands they will pick the Republican, I assume.”
Bloomberg continued, “If the House changes into Democratic hands, because it is the next House that will do the voting, they would, I assume, pick the Democrat. So the independent would not have any votes in that one, so you just can’t win as a third candidate.”
The mayor said his team “did a lot of polling” and concluded he would win a third of the votes, but fail to reach a majority and, therefore, he decided to stay out. He said he had no regrets about doing so, and added that he thought Hillary Clinton is poised to win, as evidenced by “the bookies and the polls.”
