Unity Party of America

File:Bill Hammons.jpg

File:Unity Party of America triangle.svg

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.westword.com/news/unity-party-reaches-minor-party-status-in-colorado-9142592 |title=Unity Party Reaches Minor-Party Status in Colorado |publisher=Westword |access-date=October 6, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/unity-party-of-utah/Content?oid=2146940 |title=Unity Party of Utah |publisher=Salt Lake City Weekly |access-date=November 17, 2019}}

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{{cite web |url=http://www.nyualumniblog.com/2008/10/bill-hammons-cas-for-us-congress.html |title=Bill Hammons (CAS '97) For US Congress |publisher=NYU Arts and Science Alumni Blog |access-date=November 17, 2019}} and again in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/22/bill-hammons-unity-party-congress-jared-polis/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626020710/http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/22/bill-hammons-unity-party-congress-jared-polis/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 26, 2009 |title=Unity Party's Hammons to challenge Polis for 2nd CD seat in 2010 |publisher=Daily Camera |access-date=November 17, 2019}} By that point, the Unity Party had expanded beyond Colorado to 27 states.{{cite web |url=https://www.deseret.com/2010/6/29/20124751/unity-party-aims-for-a-place-on-utah-ballot |title=Unity Party aims for a place on Utah ballot |publisher=Deseret News |access-date=November 17, 2019}} 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).{{cite web |url=https://www.dailycamera.com/2016/10/15/bill-hammons-us-senate/ |title=Bill Hammons: U.S. Senate |publisher=Boulder Daily Camera |access-date=October 6, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/VoterRegNumbers/2019/September/VotersByPartyAgeGender.pdf |title=2019 Voter Registration Statistics |publisher=Colorado Secretary of State |access-date=October 6, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/07/unity-party-becomes-official-party/ |title=Unity Party becomes "minor party" in Colorado |publisher=Denver Post |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

In 2012, veteran and Gold Star father Jim Pirtle of Colorado Springs was declared as a Unity Party candidate for Congress.{{cite web |url=https://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog/archives/2011/04/27/pirtle-to-the-rescue |title=Pirtle to the rescue? |publisher=Colorado Springs Independent |access-date=November 17, 2019}}

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.{{cite web |title=Bill Hammons: U.S. Senate |url=https://www.dailycamera.com/2016/10/15/bill-hammons-us-senate/ |website=Daily Camera |access-date=15 November 2023}}{{cite web | url=http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/63746/184388/Web01/en/summary.html | title=Official Results November 8, 2016 General Election | publisher=Colorado Secretary of State | access-date=December 15, 2016}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/newsRoom/pressReleases/2017/PR20170607UnityParty.html |title=Unity Party is now officially a minor party in Colorado |publisher=Colorado Secretary of State |access-date=November 17, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/meet-the-man-who-founded-the-unity-party-colorados-newest-official-minor-party/ |title=Meet The Man Who Founded The Unity Party, Colorado's Newest Official Minor Party |date=12 July 2017 |publisher=Colorado Public Radio |access-date=October 6, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/politics-unplugged/unity-party-candidate-for-governor-bill-hammons-hoping-to-make-waves-in-2018-election |title=Unity Party candidate for governor Bill Hammons hoping to make waves in 2018 election |date=6 August 2017 |publisher=The Denver Channel |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

In September 2017, Unity Party members decided to begin referring to themselves as "Uniters."{{cite web |url=https://gazette.com/colorado-unity-party-nicknames-itself-the-uniters/article_1a6dbd36-e017-57b9-9fc9-3d648a4f3eac.html |title=Colorado Unity Party nicknames itself the 'Uniters' |date=12 September 2017 |publisher=Colorado Springs Gazette |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://gazette.com/colorado-s-dark-horses-what-makes-non-major-party-candidates/article_f170c16a-dfa7-11e8-a415-5fc384339898.html |title=Colorado's dark horses: What makes non-major-party candidates run? |date=30 October 2018 |publisher=Colorado Springs Gazette |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://gazette.com/news/unity-party-s-rebecca-keltie-to-take-on-doug-lamborn/article_e66b5995-92d9-57fb-8271-f60acfbb27cd.html |title=Unity Party's Rebecca Keltie to take on Doug Lamborn for Congress |date=24 June 2019 |publisher=Colorado Springs Gazette |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

Bill Hammons and Eric Bodenstab were nominated for President and Vice President, respectively, in an online convention held over WebEx on April 4, 2020.{{cite web |url=https://unityparty.us/releases/unity-party-conventions/ |title=Unity Party of Colorado & America Conventions Go 100% Online |date=April 2020 |publisher=Unity Party of America |access-date=July 28, 2020}} Hammons and Bodenstab made it onto the ballot in Colorado,{{cite web |url=https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/vote/generalCandidates.html |title=2020 General Election Candidate List |publisher=Colorado Secretary of State |access-date=September 12, 2020}} Louisiana{{cite web |url=https://www.ksla.com/2020/09/02/whats-ballot-bossier-parish/ |title=What's on the Ballot – Bossier Parish |date=2 September 2020 |publisher=KSLA |access-date=September 12, 2020}} and New Jersey.{{cite web |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/campaigns/county-clerks-to-draw-for-ballots-at-3-pm/ |title=County Clerks To Draw For Ballots At 3 PM |date=10 August 2020 |publisher=New Jersey Globe |access-date=September 12, 2020}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Silverii |first1=Ian |title=Silverii: The Republican Party has no platform, and the Colorado GOP is just as adrift |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/09/18/colorado-republican-party-gop-has-no-platform-ian-silverii/ |website=Denver Post |date=18 September 2020 |access-date=15 November 2023}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Bohannon |first1=Molly |title=Colorado CD2 Rep. Joe Neguse faces challengers from 4 parties |url=https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2022/10/15/colorado-district-rep-joe-neguse-faces-challengers-from-four-parties-democrat-republican/69515345007/ |website=Fort Collins Coloradoan |access-date=15 November 2023}}

On 24 August 2023, Richard Ward, the Libertarian candidate for Colorado's 8th congressional district in 2022 who won 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.{{cite web |last1=Solomon |first1=Marissa |title=Former CD-8 candidate leaves Libertarian party for Unity Party |url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/former-cd-8-libertarian-candidate-will-run-again-under-unity-party/73-2eeef7a6-1e17-418a-9e02-814c4738a1f4 |website=KUSA (TV) |publisher=NBC |access-date=15 November 2023}}

{{Main|2020 United States presidential election}}

Nominees Hammons and Bodenstab came in 12th place nationally in the 2020 United States presidential election, winning 6,647 votes.{{cite web |url=https://wtop.com/government/2020/11/us-pres-suma100-13/ |title=US-Pres-SumA,100 |date=November 21, 2020 |website=wtop.com |access-date=November 26, 2020}}

Downballot, the party's Senate candidate, Stephen "Seku" Evans, won 8,971 votes, coming in very last place,{{Cite web|title=Election Night Reporting|url=https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/105975/web.264614/#/summary|access-date=2021-01-21|website=results.enr.clarityelections.com}} 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.

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.{{Cite web|title=Adams County November 3, 2020 General Election|url=https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20201103/adams/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=results.vote.wa.gov}}

{{Main|2024 United States presidential election}}

On December 21, 2023, Donnie Harold Harris, the President of the Unity party of Indiana, and Hammons announced that for the first time in the Unity Party's history that there will be a Unity Presidential primary which will determine the candidate in time for the April 13, 2024, Unity party convention. Additionally, the pair announced that former party chairman Elijah Herson will be moderating a debate.{{cite web |title=United Press Releases |url=https://unitypartyamerica.us/unity-press-releases |website=unitypartyamerica.us |access-date=11 February 2024}}

On April 6, 2024, The Unity Party nominated Paul Noel Fiorino and Matthew May for president and vice president respectively at the 7th United National Convention over Google Meet.{{cite web |title=7th United National Convention |url=https://unitypartyamerica.us/7th-national-convention |website=Unity Party of America |access-date=9 April 2024}} However, the Colorado faction of the party, which has the party's ballot access, met on April 13, 2024 and nominated independent Cornel West.{{Cite tweet|user=politics1com|number=1777460193250419048|title=COLORADO. Two candidates are competing at the Unity Party convention on Saturday for the party's presidential ballot line: progressive independent Cornel West (NJ) and frequent state candidate Paul Fiorino (CO). Party insiders believe West is favored to capture the spot.|date =April 8, 2024|accessdate=April 11, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://x.com/Politics1com/status/1779504389129990519|title=Progressive independent candidate Cornel West easily won the presidential nomination of the Unity Party at yesterday's convention}}

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 3rd party presidential campaign had approached the Unity Party of Colorado for their nomination.{{cite news |date=May 24, 2024 |last=McDuffie |first=Will |title=RFK Jr.'s 'clever move' to help earn ballot access nationwide: Allying with little-known parties |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rfk-jrs-clever-move-earn-ballot-access-nationwide/story?id=109872197 |work=ABC News |access-date=18 September 2024}}

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.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikinews category}}

• [https://unitypartyamerica.us/ Official website]

{{Colorado political parties}}

{{United States political parties}}

Category:2004 establishments in Colorado

Category:Political parties in Colorado

Category:Political parties in the United States

Category:Centrist political parties in the United States