Hank Silverberg, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – A third party candidate could have a major impact on this year’s election. Political observers says Virginia is a pivotal state for both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, but a third party candidate could draw enough votes away if the election is close.

Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode, a former Congressman in Virginia, is also on the commonwealth’s ballot this year.

“A relatively small number of votes could be decisive in Virginia, and the Virgil Goode campaign is a problem for the Romney campaign,” University of Mary Washington political science professor Steven Farnsworth tells WTOP.

Goode though, doesn’t see it that way. He recently told ABC News that he expects to draw Democratic votes away from the President Obama as well.

Farnsworth says if Goode can draw one or two percent of the vote in Virginia, which is possible if he does well in his old congressional district, he could change the course of the entire election.

He notes that Goode ran as a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent during his 12 years as a Congressman from southside Virginia, and is well-known to voters there.

Goode lost his congressional seat in 2008. His Presidential campaign has focused on immigration both illegal and legal. He told ABC he wants a moratorium on “Green cards” that allow immigrants to legally work in the United States, until unemployment drops below 5 percent.

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