In politics, the term mulligan race or mulligan candidate is used to describe a losing or disqualified candidate in a party primary or nomination, who, nevertheless, runs in the general election on another ballot line, either as an independent or as the nominee for a third party. In the 2006 Connecticut U.S. Senate race, many Ned Lamont supporters accused Senator Joseph Lieberman of running a mulligan race as an independent, since he had lost the Democratic Party primary. Several U.S. states have so-called sore-loser laws specifically designed to prevent such failed candidates from appearing on the ballot in the general election in such a manner.
