(The Hill) — A Texas man is hoping a legal name change and a long-shot presidential bid will get his argument across that some voters want “literally anybody else” but former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden to serve another White House term.
A teacher and Army veteran in North Richland Hills, Texas — formerly named Dustin Ebey — told WFAA he legally changed his name to “Literally Anybody Else” and is running for president under that name. He told the outlet he is hoping the name will send a message.
“This isn’t about me, ‘Literally Anybody Else,’ more so as it is an idea. We can do better out of 300 million people for president,” he told WFAA.
Else showed his apparent new driver’s license to the outlet, on which his name is listed as “Literally Anybody Else.” Federal Election Commission records show he has filed with the commission under the name.
He emphasized he is “not delusional” and understands garnering enough signatures to appear on ballots will be very challenging.
“This will be very hard to do, but it’s not impossible. My hope is to have Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and then Literally Anybody Else right underneath,” he said. “I really want there to be an outlet for folks like me who are just so fed up with this constant power grab between two parties that has no benefit for the common person.”
Under Texas law, an application to be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate needs to be submitted with a petition, which requires 113,151 signatures from registered voters who did not vote in the presidential primary of either party in Texas.
Understanding this is a difficult task, Else is asking Texas residents to list his name as a write-in candidate. Write-in candidates in the Lone Star State are only required to register with the state and do not have signature requirements.
“Write that name in — we don’t really have a ‘neither’ option on the ballot, and this fills that role,” Else said.
A series of recent polls have shown that few Americans are excited about a rematch between Trump and Biden, who are their respective parties’ presumptive nominees.
In an Associated Press-NORC Research Center poll released in December, 56 percent of U.S. adults overall, regardless of party affiliation, said they would be “very” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, and about 58 percent said the same about Trump being the potential GOP nominee.
Another poll, released in January by Decision Desk HQ/NewsNation, found about 59 percent of registered voters are “not too enthusiastic” or “not at all enthusiastic” about a rematch between the two.
