COLUMBIA -- Chances are that either the Democrat or the Republican running for U.S. Senate in South Carolina will be the victor in November. But that doesn't stop the four other candidates, representing small parties from working just as hard to get their messages out.

"This is a moment, if people choose to open their eyes wide and see they have another candidate to choose," said Rebekah Sutherland, the Libertarian Party candidate.

Two black candidates -- Tee Ferguson of the United Citizens Party and Green Party candidate Efia Nwangaza, both say they want to get the attention of the other candidates and the major parties.

"Trust me, if the Democratic Party thinks there's any chance whatsoever that a significant number of black voters will leave the Democratic Party, then black people will start to get something out of the system," said Ferguson, a former Democrat in the South Carolina House.

"The black community specifically needs to be aware that there are other choices," Nwangaza said.

Patrick Tyndall is running for the Constitution Party.

Tyndall does not have a campaign Web site, but the Constitution Party site says its goal is to limit the role of the federal government to "safeguarding the God-given rights of its citizens, namely, life, liberty and property. We strive to restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical foundations."

Ideologically, candidates Nwangaza and Ferguson are likely to draw voters from Democrat Inez Tenenbaum, while Sutherland and Tyndall are likely to take votes from Republican Jim DeMint.

The election winner doesn't need a majority. Since 1908, 139 senators have won with less than half the vote.

In the 1996 U.S. Senate race in Georgia, Democrat Max Cleland won with 49 percent of the vote, beating Republican Guy Millner. Third-party candidates captured nearly 4 percent of all ballots, according to the Center for Voting and Democracy.

Sutherland hopes that so many candidates will make it possible for her to do more than be a spoiler. "I need less than 33 percent of the vote to win," she said.