A social justice advocate and self-proclaimed radical, Arn Menconi said he spent 20 years working within the political system, trying to affect change through the Democratic Party, serving locally as an Eagle County Commissioner for eight years and campaigning for numerous party candidates, among them Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.

But after watching Democrats like Bennet take what he labeled as an apathetic approach to the endless wars and accelerating climate change, Menconi left the party for greener, and more progressive pastures, changing his party affiliation to the Green Party.

“The Democratic Party is out of touch with the average American,” said Menconi, who is challenging Bennet this November for his U.S. Senate seat as the Colorado Green Party candidate.

“There’s a two party system of the insider party and the outside party, and I’m acutely aware of that now that I’m into my campaign,” Menconi added.

Not unlike Menconi, there are a growing number Colorado voters feeling jaded with the Democratic and Republican Parties, and looking to third parties like the Green Party for an alternative.

Since 2012, the Green Party has grown by roughly 20 percent from 9,098 to 11,383 voters, according to state voting data.

While the Green Party has swelled, so have others, and the Green Party’s membership is arguably negligible when contrasted with the Democratic and Republican parties which boast nearly 2.3 million voters combined.

The Libertarian Party has also grown, adding roughly 10,000 voters since August 2012, or swelling by nearly 30 percent.

Unaffiliated voters make up the state’s largest voting population totaling nearly 1.3 million, a voting base Menconi hopes the Green Party can tap into this November.

“People want somebody that is authentic,” Menconi said. “People are leaving because they are tired of politicians who fundraise five hours a day, raising money from corporate interests and the 1 percent. People are taking democracy into their own hands, because people know the country is run by a global corporation mafia.”

It’s an unprecedented situation, said University of Colorado-Boulder political scientist David Brown. There’s a general lack of excitement for the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, bleeding support over to the Green Party.

Recent polls show third party candidates making their mark in the state. A Quinnipiac University poll released Aug. 17 has Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein polling at 7 percent in Colorado and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson at 16 percent.

The poll also details high unfavorability ratings for Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Colorado.

Among those who support Clinton, 37 percent said they are pro-Clinton, while 48 percent say they support the former secretary of state because they are anti-Trump, according to the Quinnipiac University poll.

Andrea Merida, state and national Green Party co-chair, said the party appeals to voters because its candidates don’t take corporate donations for campaigns and it’s a grassroots organization.

“What we offer Colorado undecided voters is a chance for them to vote their conscience,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to flex their muscles on a political scale, since we are a grassroots, bottom-up party.”

When asked if the growth of the party is sustainable past the immediate election, Merida said there are a lot of former Bernie Sanders’ supporters who have seen “that the fix is in,” and came over to the Green Party and are willing to campaign and help grow the voting base.

But Brown said even with the Green Party’s above-average growth this election cycle, it’s not likely to last. From a political science perspective, considering the way the political system is set-up, it doesn’t bode well, Brown said.

“Can third parties break into Congress and start to plant some seeds that way,” Brown asked. “The answer is the system is geared against that sort of development.”

Green Party nominee for president Jill Stein, a physician from Massachusetts, swung through Colorado on a campaign tour Aug. 27 and 28, stopping over in Colorado Springs’ Acacia Park, where she told a gathering of supporters she is optimistic about her party’s future – moreover the people behind it. “Never doubt for a minute our power to change course, to change direction, from this trajectory toward war, endless war, toward climate catastrophe and toward a collapsing economy,” Stein said.

Menconi acknowledges it will be an uphill battle, challenging Bennet for his seat as the alternative party candidate, but he too is optimistic.

“My race is a David and Goliath story, but as I recall, David won,” he said. “There are hills to climb, but I have a few things to my advantage. People are mad as hell. They don’t want reform, they want a revolution.”