Unity Party of America
ChairmanBill Hammons
FounderBill Hammons and Rich Hammons[1]
FoundedNovember 4, 2004 (2004-11-04)
MembershipIncrease 3,900[2]
IdeologyCentrism
Colors  Cyan
Slogan"Not Right, Not Left, Forward!"
Seats in the Senate
0 / 100
Seats in the House
0 / 435
State Governorships
0 / 50
State Upper Chamber Seats
0 / 1,972
State Lower Chamber Seats
0 / 5,411
Territorial Governorships
0 / 5
Territorial Upper Chamber Seats
0 / 97
Territorial Lower Chamber Seats
0 / 91
Election symbol
Website
unitypartyamerica.us

The Unity Party of America is a national political party in the United States founded on November 4, 2004 with the slogan "Not Right, Not Left, But Forward!"[3] The party has 12 state affiliates, two of which, Colorado and Massachusetts, have ballot access.[4][5][6] Additionally, the Unity Party has reported that it has members in 46 states.[7]

History

The Unity Party grew out of the grassroots group named Runners for Clark which supported General Wesley Clark's 2004 presidential campaign by raising campaign contributions and awareness of Clark's run for the presidency; Runners for Clark morphed into Unity Runners and then into the Unity Party.[8][9]

Bill Hammons of Texas, New York and Colorado founded the Unity Party in 2004 as chairman and ran as the Unity Party of America candidate for Colorado's 2nd congressional district, centered on Boulder, in 2008[10] and again in 2010.[11] By that point, the Unity Party had expanded beyond Colorado to 27 states.[12] He then ran for the U.S. Senate in Colorado in 2014 before running for the Senate again in 2016 and then for Colorado governor in 2018 (the "Unity" voter affiliation option in Colorado is a direct result of his Senate candidacy).[13][14][15][8]

In 2012, veteran and Gold Star father Jim Pirtle of Colorado Springs was declared as a Unity Party candidate for Congress.[16]

In 2016 Bill Hammons stood as the party's candidate during the 2016 United States Senate election in Colorado, earning 9,336 votes, or 0.34% of the electorate.[17][18]

In June 2017, the Unity Party achieved full recognition as a minor party by the state of Colorado, and its candidates in the state no longer need to petition onto the ballot, but instead just need a "show of hands" at a party assembly. By 2017, the party had spread to 37 states.[19][15][20][21]

In September 2017, Unity Party members decided to begin referring to themselves as "Uniters."[22]

In October 2018, Hammons was quoted as saying, "God did not ordain two parties in the United States," and went on to say one goal of his gubernatorial run was to help put a Unity Party presidential candidate at the top of the ballot in Colorado in 2020.[23]

In June 2019, Rebecca Keltie of Colorado Springs became the first female Unity Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, and in September 2019 the Unity Party U.S. Senate candidacy of Arvada's Joshua Rodriguez created the first-ever contested Unity Party nomination race.[24][7]

Bill Hammons and Eric Bodenstab were nominated for President and Vice President, respectively, in an online convention held over WebEx on April 4, 2020.[25] Hammons and Bodenstab made it onto the ballot in Colorado,[26] Louisiana[27] and New Jersey.[28]

On 18 September, 2020, Ian Silverii , columnist for the Denver Post, gave the Unity Party as an alternative to the Colorado Republican Party after the Republicans failed to give any official platform for their 2020 state convention, instead republishing their 2016 platform.[29]

During the 2022 House of Representatives election in District 2, the Unity Party stood Tim Wolf as their candidate, in a crowded field which saw three third parties, including the ideologically similar Colorado Center Party, contest the election.[30]

On 24 August, 2023, Richard Ward, the Libertarian candidate for Colorado's 8th congressional district in 2022 who had the best showing of any Libertarian congressional candidate in 2022 with 3.9% of the vote, announced that he would be switching party affiliation to the Unity Party, citing the rightward shift in the Libertarian Party after their takeover by the Mises Caucus.[31]

Party structure

Chairman

No. Name Term Start Term End Notes
1 Bill Hammons November 4, 2004 February 11, 2022 Party's founder and longtime perennial candidate.[1]
2 Elijah Herson April 9, 2022 June 7, 2022 Longtime party Vice-Chairman, resigned due to personality disputes in the party's national committee.[1]
3 Tim Wolf June 7, 2022 March 29, 2023 Former vice-president, there is no interim-chairman role in the party's constitution, upon Herson's resignation Wolf became chairman until his own resignation.[1]
4 Eric Bodenstab April 7, 2023 May 12, 2023 Upon the resignation of Wolf, Vice-Chair Jim Wiest declined chairmanship so Secretary Eric Bodenstab became chairman.[1]
5 Alex Darlington May 12, 2023 July 29, 2023 Popular national committeeman, Alex Darlington, was elected chairman in an attempt to end the instability of party leadership, however, he too would resign.[1]
6 Sabrina Bryan July 29, 2023 July 30, 2023 Another interim chairman who oversaw the transfer of power back to Hammon.[1]
1 (7) Bill Hammons October 7, 2023 Incumbent To conclude the leadership instability, then treasurer and founder Bill Hammons was reinstated as chairman.[1]

State affiliates

  • Unity Party of Colorado: The founding core of the party, with a strong support base in Boulder and Colorado's second congressional distinct. Founded as the first state affiliate in 2005 and is a recognized political party in Colorado with ballot access since 2008.[32]
  • Unity Party of Florida: One of two state affiliates not founded by Bill Hammons, the Unity Party of Florida campaigns on increasing high-tech industries within the state, while also working on sustainable initiatives, all while promoting a "Floridian" character.[33]
  • Unity Party of Idaho[34]
  • Unity Party of Illinois[35]
  • Unity Party of Indiana[36]
  • Unity Party of Iowa[37]
  • Unity Party of Kansas[38]
  • Unity Party of Massachusetts: Formed by Hammons in 2021 and with a support base in Boston, the Unity Party of Massachusetts is a recognized political party in Massachusetts with ballot access since its foundation.[39]
  • Unity Party of Tennessee[40]
  • Unity Party of Texas: Formed by Hammons in his home state and is largely subsidiary to the Colorado party, the Unity Party of Texas maintains two strong support bases in Hammon's home town of Odessa and his place of residence since 2019, Austin.[41]
  • Unity Party of Virginia: One of two state affiliates not founded by Bill Hammons.[42]
  • Unity Party of Wyoming[43]

Elections

2020 election

Nominees Hammons and Bodenstab came in 12th place nationally in the 2020 United States presidential election, winning 6,647 votes.[44]

Downballot, the party's Senate candidate, Stephen "Seku" Evans, won 8,971 votes, coming in very last place,[45] underperforming Hammons both in his senatorial run and in his 2018 gubernatorial run.

In the House of Representatives, the party only ran candidates in the state of Colorado, who averaged between 0.5% and 1% of the vote in their respective districts[45]

The Unity Party's best performance came from James Triebert, who ran for Adams County Commissioner against Democrat Chad Tedesco. He won 29.1% of the vote, with 57,387 votes.[46]

Platform

As of 2014, the Unity Party platform was outlined as supporting a balanced budget amendment, an elimination of the federal income tax, a health care tax deduction, Social Security reform, term limits, and gerrymandering reform.

Presidential candidate performance

Year Candidate(s) Popular votes Percentage Electoral votes Ballot access
2020
  • President: Bill Hammons
  • Vice President: Eric Bodenstab
 6,647 0.0042% 0
31 / 538

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Party Leadership Timeline". Unity Party. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Voters By Party Status" (PDF). www.sos.state.co.us. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Unity candidate running for governor". The Fort Morgan Times. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Political Party Directory". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Directory of Political Parties and Designations". Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Unity Party of America". United National Committee. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Colorado's tiny Unity Party facing first-ever primary in US Senate race". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Unity Party Reaches Minor-Party Status in Colorado". Westword. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Unity Party of Utah". Salt Lake City Weekly. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Bill Hammons (CAS '97) For US Congress". NYU Arts and Science Alumni Blog. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Unity Party's Hammons to challenge Polis for 2nd CD seat in 2010". Daily Camera. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Unity Party aims for a place on Utah ballot". Deseret News. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Bill Hammons: U.S. Senate". Boulder Daily Camera. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  14. ↑ "2019 Voter Registration Statistics" (PDF). Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  15. 1 2 "Unity Party becomes "minor party" in Colorado". Denver Post. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Pirtle to the rescue?". Colorado Springs Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Bill Hammons: U.S. Senate". Daily Camera. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  18. ↑ "Official Results November 8, 2016 General Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Unity Party is now officially a minor party in Colorado". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Meet The Man Who Founded The Unity Party, Colorado's Newest Official Minor Party". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Unity Party candidate for governor Bill Hammons hoping to make waves in 2018 election". The Denver Channel. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Colorado Unity Party nicknames itself the 'Uniters'". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Colorado's dark horses: What makes non-major-party candidates run?". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Unity Party's Rebecca Keltie to take on Doug Lamborn for Congress". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Unity Party of Colorado & America Conventions Go 100% Online". Unity Party of America. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  26. ↑ "2020 General Election Candidate List". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  27. ↑ "What's on the Ballot – Bossier Parish". KSLA. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  28. ↑ "County Clerks To Draw For Ballots At 3 PM". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  29. ↑ Silverii, Ian. "Silverii: The Republican Party has no platform, and the Colorado GOP is just as adrift". Denver Post. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  30. ↑ Bohannon, Molly. "Colorado CD2 Rep. Joe Neguse faces challengers from 4 parties". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  31. ↑ Solomon, Marissa. "Former CD-8 candidate leaves Libertarian party for Unity Party". KUSA (TV). NBC. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  32. ↑ "The Unity Party of Colorado". Unity Party. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  33. ↑ "Unity Party of Florida". Unity Party. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  34. ↑ "Unity Party of Idaho". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  35. ↑ "Unity Party of Illinois". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  36. ↑ "Unity Party of Indiana". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  37. ↑ "Unity Party of Iowa". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  38. ↑ "Unity Party of Kansas". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  39. ↑ "Unity Party of Massachusetts". Unity Party. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  40. ↑ "Unity Party of Tennessee". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  41. ↑ "Unity Party of Texas". Unity Party. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  42. ↑ "Unity Party of Virginia". Unity Party. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  43. ↑ "Unity Party of Wyoming". Unity Party. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  44. ↑ "US-Pres-SumA,100". wtop.com. November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  45. 1 2 "Election Night Reporting". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  46. ↑ "Adams County November 3, 2020 General Election". results.vote.wa.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Unity Party of America.
Wikinews has news related to:
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.