In October of 2021, a group called the Forward Party began in earnest, with the mission of bringing much-needed change to our national party politics. Among its leaders were former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former New Jersey governor Christine Whitman, and among its volunteers were a wide swath of energetic organizers from across the nation, with one of the most active corps developing in Florida.
Then, in August of 2022, that Forward Party merged with two other reform-minded organizations - the Renew America Movement, which was begun by Evan McMullin and featured Gainesville-based Joel Searby at the helm; and the Serve America Movement, which was led in part by former Pinellas County Republican Congressman David Jolly. As the new Forward Party quickly built momentum, it was clear that it was time to turn our wide-eyed ideas into a much-needed political reality. And naturally, with so much Florida presence from all three merged organizations, our state was at the fore.
Currently, the Florida Forward Party, now governed by an elected Executive Committee, has pending minor party status, and we are beginning to work towards developing county chapters around the state, and towards gathering candidates for both 2023 (municipal) and 2024 races. We don’t just want to make a statement - we seek to win seats and truly change the political game.
We come from a wide range of political and ideological backgrounds, but we’ve come together around the idea that our politics direly needs something new, something different. The major party duopoly is a broken and destructive system, with twisted incentives that bring us the poor representation and ineffective leadership, election cycle after election cycle.
The solution isn’t just a new party, it’s a different kind of party altogether. We want to embrace our ideological diversity, to put forward the idea that no one has all the answers, and that, in order to face the complex political problems of today and tomorrow, we need to welcome more voices to the table, and we need to empower community leaders to bring innovative solutions at the local level. And with this grassroots, pragmatic mindset, we believe we can build the viable, credible, and durable new party that our nation needs.