Forward Party (United States)

The Forward Party, also known simply as Forward (FWD), is a centrist[7][8] political party in the United States. Forward has two political party affiliates at the state level that have achieved ballot access. It seeks to have affiliates with ballot access in 29 other states by the end of 2023 and achieve ballot access in all 50 states in 2024.[9]

Forward Party
AbbreviationFWD
Chief executive officerLindsey Williams Drath
Co-chairs
FounderAndrew Yang
FoundedOctober 5, 2021 (2021-10-05)
Merger ofForward Party (original PAC)
Serve America Movement[1]
Renew America Movement
HeadquartersRiver Vale, New Jersey, U.S.
Ideology
Political positionCenter[C]
Colors  Indigo   Blue   Red
Slogan
  • Moving Forward Together.
  • Not Left. Not Right. Forward.
Seats in the Senate
0 / 100
Seats in the House
0 / 435
Governorships
0 / 50
State Upper House Seats[lower-alpha 1]
2 / 1,972
State Lower House Seats
0 / 5,411
Other elected officials[lower-alpha 2]3 (August 2023)[3][4]
Website
https://www.forwardparty.com
^ A: Populism focused towards independents and Americans dissatisfied towards the two parties, and the general two party duopoly and system.[5]

^ B: Specifically, electoral and democratic reform, with support for open primaries, independent redistricting commissions, ranked-choice voting, and more (see here).[6]

^ C: "Center" only within the American political spectrum. The party could also be described as 'big tent' or 'syncretic' due to its unwillingness on holding any firm stances or positions,[2] and the party's rejection of the left–right political spectrum, but rather "Forward".

The party, which was founded by former Democratic 2020 presidential and 2021 New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang, describes its goals as the reduction of partisan polarization and implementing electoral reforms.[10] Forward was officially formed as a political action committee (PAC) on October 5, 2021.[10] The PAC intends to seek recognition from the Federal Election Commission as a political party to achieve its stated goal of providing an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties.[11][12] It also states that, for the time being, candidates affiliated with the organization will remain members of the two major American political parties and America's third parties, as well as independent candidates.[13]

On July 27, 2022, the Forward Party announced that it had merged with the Serve America Movement and the Renew America Movement to further its effort to form a new third party named "Forward".[14][9]

History

Founding and early history (2021–2022)
Yang in 2019

In Yang's 2021 book, Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy, he announced the creation of the party. Yang also criticized American political leaders, writing that "our leaders are rewarded based not on solving problems but on accruing resources and retaining office."[12][15][16]

Yang said that part of the reason why he wanted to start a third party instead of a caucus within the Democratic Party was that a majority of states with ballot initiatives are red states, and that efforts to institute electoral changes would be partisan and not system-wide.[17][18] Yang stated that he would have liked to have implemented the Forward Party's platform within the Democratic Party. However, he felt that the implementation of ranked-choice voting and open primaries would be difficult to get while remaining a Democrat.[19]

The Forward Party claims that it will endorse candidates of both major parties in the 2022 elections who support its policies.[19] Yang states that the Forward Party will not serve a spoiler because it will endorse any Democrats and Republicans who support the party's platform. The Forward Party website suggests that candidates affiliated with the Forward Party will likely run as a member of one of the two major parties.[20] Yang stated that the Forward Party is not interested in running a candidate for president, but is focused on trying to decrease partisan gridlock within Congress and state legislatures.[17] The Forward Party has stated it may hold its own primary process to nominate a candidate prior to the 2024 United States presidential election.[21] The party's initial team included former congressional candidate Blair Walsingham and attorney Jeff Kurzon.[22]

In February 2022, the Forward Party chose Minnesota as the first state to launch an affiliate party.[23] According to Yang, Minnesota was chosen because there are "open primaries, public resources for candidates [and the state has] an independent spirit."[23] The Minnesota affiliate is being headed by John Denney, who ran for Congress in 2014 as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota.[23] Denney attempted to get Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, to run as a member of the Forward Party in the 2022 Minnesota Attorney General election.[23] Cory Hepola, a radio host, announced he was running for Governor of Minnesota as a member of the Forward Party in 2022.[24] He later withdrew from the race.[25]

Mergers (2022–present)

In July 2022, the Forward Party, Renew America Movement, and Serve America Movement, announced that they would be merging in an attempt to form a new third party.[9][14] The new party, Forward, would be co-chaired by Yang and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.[26] Shortly after launching, former Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Joe Sestak and former Florida Republican Representative David Jolly both announced they would be joining the party.[27][28] They have also announced that the party would launch on September 24, 2022, with its first national convention in summer 2023.[29]

The Forward Party's affiliate, the Griebel-Frank for CT Party, appeared on the gubernatorial ballot in the 2022 Connecticut gubernatorial election.The Griebel-Frank for CT Party endorsed incumbent Governor Ned Lamont.[30]

On January 27, 2023, the Common Sense Party of California and Forward Party announced a coalition in California, with the goal of achieving 73,000 registered voters in order to become a qualified political party in the state.[31]

The Forward Party has no plans to run a candidate for President in 2024 and plans on working to elect state and local officials.[32] The party stated they will "do anything we can to make sure that Donald Trump does not get near the White House."[33]

In May 2023, Jordan Marlowe, the mayor of Newberry, Florida, announced that he was switching his party registration from Libertarian to Forward, becoming the party's first sitting executive.[3]

On June 21, 2023, two Democratic members of the Pennsylvania State Senate announced they were joining the Forward Party. Senators Anthony H. Williams and Lisa Boscola announced that, while they were retaining their Democratic Party affiliation and caucus membership, they were also affiliating with the Forward Party and would be labeled as "Forward Democrats" according to the Forward Party.[34][35]

In August 2023, Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala announced their affiliation as Forward Republicans.[36][37][38]

Political positions

Early positions

The party's original platform included instituting 18-year term limits for members of Congress.[17] It also sought to establish a new cabinet-level Department of Technology. The party supported civic juries and advocated for a "citizens' portal". The party supported data as a property right.[6] The party called for an economy based on "human-centered capitalism", the enactment of universal basic income,[12][39] and support for alternative forms of measuring economic progress.[6]

The party advocated for automatic tax filing.[40] Forward's former platform supported the implementation of a universal health care system,[41] and it encouraged states to adopt nonpartisan primaries and implement ranked-choice voting,[12][39] a concept Yang draws from political theorist and businesswoman Katherine Gehl called Final-Five Voting. It also proposed independent redistricting commissions and public finance reform in the form of democracy dollars.[6] The party encourages people to maintain their membership in the Democratic and Republican parties as to not disenfranchise them by leaving them unable to vote in party primaries.[13][42] As a consequence, Forward plans to endorse candidates from both major parties, third parties, as well as independents who advocate for the core values rather than field their own.[13]

Current positions after mergers

Upon merging with the Serve America Movement and the Renew America Movement, Forward eliminated its party platform and instead announced they will take an approach that seeks common ground among Americans.[32] Joel Searby, Forward's National Director, said that the party does not plan on taking positions on controversial issues such as guns and abortion; instead they will leave those issues up to candidates and state and local chapters to decide.[2] Steve Brawner, a freelance journalist and syndicated columnist, also said that "We think that Americans want and need a party that speaks to the needs of their local communities and gives elected officials the flexibility to meet those needs, instead of a rigid, top-down platform that prescribes exactly what you have to believe about any given issue..."[32]

Forward does take a specific stance on electoral and democratic reform.[32] The party supports:[6]

Notable members
Name Position Notability (office) Previous affiliation Ref.
Richard Baldocchi Member City Council Member of Maitland (1998–2004), Vice Mayor of Maitland (1998–2004) Republican [46]
Tim Barnsback Member Candidate for Congress (2018), President of Professional Educators of North Carolina Democratic
Seth Bluestein Affiliated member Philadelphia City Commissioner (2022–incumbent) Republican
Lisa Boscola Affiliated member Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1995–1998), Member of the Pennsylvania State Senate (1999–incumbent) Democratic
Ilya Breyman Member Founding CEO of Coursalytics (2015–present), Candidate for Pennsylvania State House (2022) Democratic [47]
Ron Corio Member Businessman; founder of Array Technologies Republican [48]
John A. Delfausse Member Chief Environmental Officer of Estée Lauder (1998–2011) Democratic [49]
Lindsey Williams Drath CEO Director of the RNC National Finance Committee (2011–2013), Senior Vice-President of Unite America (2021–2023) Republican [50]
Kerry Healey Member Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party (2001–2002), Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (2003–2007), President of Babson College (2013–2019) Republican [51]
Cory Hepola Member CEO of CSS Media+ (2018–present), candidate for governor of Minnesota (2022) Democratic [52]
Todd Hooper Member Partner at Kearney, candidate for Congress (2006) Republican
David Jolly Member U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district (2014–2017) Serve America Movement
John Kingston Member of the board Executive Vice-president of AMG (2006–2011), Vice Chairman of AMG (2011–2015), candidate for Senator from Massachusetts (2018) Republican [53]
Jeff Kurzon Member Candidate for Congress (2014), Candidate for Congress (2016) Democratic [54]
Jordan Marlowe Member Mayor of Newberry (2017–present) Libertarian [55]
Maryfrances Metrick Member of the board Businesswoman; former manager director of Blackrock Democratic [56]
Krist Novoselic Member Musician, Co-founder of Nirvana Independent [57]
Brandon Millholland-Corcoran Member Candidate for Congress (2022), candidate for governor of Minnesota (2022) Independent [58]
Richard Painter Member Chief White House ethics lawyer (2005–2007), candidate for Senator from Minnesota (2018), candidate for Congress (2022) Republican
Shivom Parihar Member Director of the January Walker Utah house campaign (2022), political activist United Utah [59]
Miles Pomeroy Member Candidate for Utah State House (2022) Democratic [59]
Jackie Salit Member of the board Leader of the Independent Voting Movement (1995–present) Independent [56]
Joe Sestak Member Vice-admiral (1986–2005), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (2007–2011), candidate for president (2020) Democratic [28]
Sarah Stogner Member Attorney, candidate for Texas Railroad Commission (2022) Republican [60]
Joseph Swartz Member Candidate for Congress (2022), writer for The Atlantic Democratic
Miles Taylor CEO Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Homeland Security (2019) Republican [56]
Tamara Uselman Member Superintendent of Bismarck Public Schools (2012–2018), Assistant Superintendent for Moorhead Public Schools (2018–2020) Democratic [61]
Chris Vance Member Member of the Washington House of Representatives (1991–1993), Member of the King County Council (1994-2001), Chair of the Washington Republican Party (2001-2006), Candidate for Senator from Washington (2016), Candidate for Member of the Washington House of Representatives (2020) Republican [62]
Blair Walshingham Political Director Candidate for Congress (2020) Democratic
Richard Warmbold Member Colonel (1994–2020), Senior advisor to the Deputy Secretary of the Interior (2014) Democratic [63]
Anthony H. Williams Affiliated member Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1989–1998), Member of the Pennsylvania State Senate (1999–incumbent), Democratic Whip of the Pennsylvania State Senate (2011–2022) Democratic
Michael Willner Vice-Co-Chair Director of NCTA (1995–2012), CEO of Penthera (2012–2022), Charter Speaker of the Concordia Summit (2021–2023) Independent [28]
Christine Todd Whitman Co-Chair Member of the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners (1983–1988), President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (1988–1990), governor of New Jersey (1994–2001), Administrator of the EPA (2001–2003) Republican [28]
Andrew Yang Co-Chair CEO of Manhattan Prep (2006–2012), CEO of Venture for America (2012–2017), Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship (2015–2016), candidate for president (2020), candidate for mayor of New York City (2021) Democratic
Stephen Zappala Affiliated member District Attorney of Allegheny County (1998-incumbent) Republican

Reception

The Forward Party has faced criticism from some Democrats, who believe the party could cause vote splitting and benefit Republicans[64] in most jurisdictions, which still use a plurality voting system. Luke Savage of Jacobin criticized the conception of the party as "pseudo-populism that's ultimately more an effort at rebranding the status quo than overthrowing it."[8] MSNBC opinion columnist Zeeshan Aleem called the Forward Party "an uninspiring mess lacking vision or purpose".[65] Natalie Shure of The New Republic characterized the party as "vapid" and a "political stunt", asking "why bother going through the trouble of building a third party if its creation is the only thing it intends to accomplish?"[66] Andrew Gawthorpe writing in The Guardian stated that the Forward Party is "likely to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions" as a new third party would not address more fundamental political problems in the United States.[67] Gawthorpe offered an alternative, suggesting that the Democratic Party is the only viable political party that could counter the "threat to U.S. democracy" posed by Republicans.[67]

In contrast, New York Times opinion writer Kara Swisher praised Yang's book Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy, which inspired the pre-July 2022 positions of the party. Swisher wrote: "Yang does not just give us a laundry list of intractable problems, but shows how we can find solutions if we think in new ways and summon the courage to do so."[15]

See also

Similar parties in the United States:

Other:

Notes
  1. Includes members of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party who affiliated with the Forward Party
  2. Includes members of the Pennsylvania Republican Party who affiliated with the Forward Party

References
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  2. "New 'Forward Party' won't pick policies on big issues but will set boundaries". CBS 8. July 29, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  3. "Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe officially changes parties to join the Forward Party". Alachua Chronicle. May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  4. Jessop, Lauren (August 24, 2023). "Two local level officials join Forward Party". The Center Square. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  5. Andrew Yang (November 22, 2021). Positive Populism with Van Jones. YouTube. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
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