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Political Party/527

Forward Party

Website:

www.forwardparty.com/
Formation:

2021
Founder:

Andrew Yang
Type:

Political Party

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The Forward Party is a centrist third party founded by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Forward’s platform is based around changes to the political process, including voting and Congressional districting.

Forward has endorsed dozens of candidates in federal, state, and local elections across the United States, most of whom have been Democrats. By 2024, Forward intends to have candidates in races in every state. 1

In the 2022 election cycle, Yang was paid $74,162 by Forward. 2

Ideology

In 2021, Andrew Yang announced the formation of the Forward Party with his book Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy. The book lays out six principles for the party: ranked-choice voting and open primaries, fact-based governance, human-centered capitalism, effective and modern-day government, universal basic income, and grace and tolerance. 3

Universal basic income was the key platform of Yang’s campaigns when he ran for president in 2020 and New York City mayor in 2021. 4

In the book, Yang claims that the two-party system is unsustainable and not equipped to adapt to technological changes because “Our leaders are rewarded based not on solving problems but on accruing resources and retaining office.” 5 Yang considered trying to implement his platform within the Democratic Party, but he believed it would be impossible to implement ranked-choice voting. 6

Yang claims that the Forward Party will succeed where other third parties have failed because of the unique context of the current time and the broad ideological basis of the party. He has often cited statistics showing that 80% of Americans believe the country is moving in the wrong direction and two-thirds of voters are dissatisfied with both major parties. 7

Platform

Election Administration

The Forward Party supports changes to methods of voting. Its website discusses ranked-choice voting, a system in which votes for minor candidates are reallocated to candidates with greater first-choice support based on voter preferences until a candidate secures a majority; approval voting, which would permit voters to vote for all candidates they support with whichever candidate receives the most votes winning; and Score Then Automatic Runoffs (STAR) voting, a system similar to approval voting under which voters “score” candidates on a zero-to-five scale with the two highest-scoring candidates going to an instant runoff. 8

Primary Elections

Forward has recommended implementing an open primary and final five system, in which all candidates run in a single primary and the top five run in the general election using a ranked-choice system. 9

Redistricting

Forward supports implementing “independent” non-partisan redistricting commissions in every state and passing a federal law outlawing gerrymandering. 10

Endorsements

In the 2022 election cycle, the Forward Party endorsed numerous candidates, including U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), U.S. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and former presidential candidate Evan McMullin (I-UT). Of the endorsed candidates, 15 were Democrats, five were members of the United Utah Party, and two were Republicans. 11

Mergers

In 2022, the Forward Party merged with the Renew America Movement and the Serve America Movement. 12

Renew America Movement was a political group founded by former members of the Trump, George W. Bush, George H..W. Bush, and Reagan administrations. The Serve America Movement was a broad coalition party formed by former President George W. Bush staffers, including National Security Council director Sarah Lenti. Both groups pursued centrist political platforms similar to Forward. 13 14

Funding

In the 2022 election cycle, most of the Forward Party’s donations have come from its two merger partners, the Renew America Movement and Serve America Movement, which contributed almost $1 million combined. 15

The next largest donor is William Perkins, a professional poker player and investor who also supported Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign. 16 17 18 The next two largest donors are the Zero 1 Derful Foundation, and an individual associated with the U.S. Metropolitan Land Development L.L.C. Both organizations have almost no online presence. 19

Forward received $20,000 from the Asian American Forward PAC and $5,000 from the Northern Leadership PAC. 20

Criticism

Forward Party founder Andrew Yang has faced criticism for attempting to launch a third party despite losing two major elections and never being elected to office. 21

The left-wing New Republic described Forward as a “vapid” “political stunt” characteristic of Yang who is far more interested in being a famed thought leader than a practical politician. 22

A writer for far-left magazine Jacobin argued that Forward’s platform offers “prescriptions that are both so vague and so blandly conventional that they ultimately raise more questions than they answer.” 23

References

  1. “FAQ.” Forward Party. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.forwardparty.com/faq.
  2. “Expenditures by Forward Party, 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2022?cmte=C00789966&tab=expenditures.
  3. Lahut, Jake. “Andrew Yang’s new 3rd party will be called ‘The Forward Party,’ according to his forthcoming book.” Insider. September 23, 2021. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-yang-new-3rd-party-name-forward-party-book-2021-9.
  4. “Andrew Yang.” Ballotpedia. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Andrew_Yang.
  5. Lahut, Jake. “Andrew Yang’s new 3rd party will be called ‘The Forward Party,’ according to his forthcoming book.” Insider. September 23, 2021. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-yang-new-3rd-party-name-forward-party-book-2021-9.
  6. “Andrew Yang is Back for a Third Round.” The New York Times. September 30, 2021. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/opinion/andrew-yang.html?showTranscript=1.
  7. Jolly, David; Whitman, Christine Todd; Yang, Andrew. “Most third parties have failed. Here’s why ours won’t.” The Washington Post. July 27, 2022. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:S1eyjtEycMYJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/27/forward-party-new-centrist-third/&cd=22&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.
  8. “Voting Reform.” Forward Party. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.forwardparty.com/voting_reform.
  9. “Nonpartisan primaries.” Forward Party. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.forwardparty.com/nonpartisan_primaries.
  10. Independent Redistricting Commission.” Forward Party. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.forwardparty.com/independent_redistricting_commissions.
  11. “Endorsements.” Forward Party. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.forwardparty.com/endorsements.
  12. Jolly, David; Whitman, Christine Todd; Yang, Andrew. “Most third parties have failed. Here’s why ours won’t.” The Washington Post. July 27, 2022. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:S1eyjtEycMYJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/27/forward-party-new-centrist-third/&cd=22&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.
  13. Smith, Allan. “Ex-Bush staffers are trying to build their own political party – and they know it’s going to be a steep climb.” Insider. April 11, 2018. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/bush-staffers-new-political-party-serve-america-movement-2018-4.
  14. Reid, Tim. “Former Republicans and Democrats form new third U.S. political party.” Reuters. July 27, 2022. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-former-republicans-democrats-form-new-third-us-political-party-2022-07-27/.
  15. “Top Organization Disclosing Donations to Forward Party, 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2022?cmte=C00789966&tab=donors.
  16. “Getting More out of Life.” Andrew Yang. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.andrewyang.com/blog/getting-more-out-of-life.
  17. “Top Organization Disclosing Donations to Forward Party, 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2022?cmte=C00789966&tab=donors.
  18. Sofen, Jon. “Bill Perkins Backing US Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang.” Cards Chat. November 20, 2019. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.cardschat.com/news/bill-perkins-andrew-yang-support-85639/.
  19. “Top Organization Disclosing Donations to Forward Party, 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2022?cmte=C00789966&tab=donors.
  20. “Top Organization Disclosing Donations to Forward Party, 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2022?cmte=C00789966&tab=donors.
  21. Rumpf, Sarah. “’No One Even Came to His First Two Parties’: Twitter Mocks The Stuffing Out of News That Andrew Yang Is Starting a Third Party.” Mediate. September 9, 2021. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.mediaite.com/online/no-one-even-came-to-his-first-two-parties-twitter-mocks-the-stuffing-out-of-news-that-andrew-yang-is-starting-a-third-party/.
  22. Shure, Natalie. “Andrew Yang’s Vapid Third-Party Vision.” The New Republic. October 13, 2021. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://newrepublic.com/article/163978/andrew-yang-forward-third-party.
  23. Savage, Luke. “Andrew Yang’s New Political Party Exposes the Farce of Radical Centrism.” Jacobin. Accessed November 29, 2022. https://jacobin.com/2021/10/andrew-yang-forward-party-book-third-way-radical-centrism-platitudes-rhetoric.
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