Unity Party of America

Unity Party of America
Founder Bill Hammons
Founded 2004 (2004)
Ideology Centrism
Political position Center
International affiliation None
Colors Red, white, and blue
Seats in the Senate
0 / 100
Seats in the House
0 / 435
Governorships
0 / 50
State Upper House Seats
0 / 1,972
State Lower House Seats
0 / 5,411
Other elected offices 0
Website
unityparty.us

The Unity Party of America is a centrist political party founded on November 4, 2004[1] which has a membership in 35 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin) listed on its website.

Origins

Bill Hammons

The Unity Party began in an online discussion forum in November 2004[2] and grew out of the Unity Runners organization; as the Unity Party website puts it, "The Unity Party of America movement had its beginnings in the concept of running marathons to raise campaign contributions for political candidates."[3] Unity Runners, in turn, had its origins in Runners for Clark, an antecedent organization which supported the Presidential candidacy of General Wesley Clark.[4]

Party founder Bill Hammons has been the party's national chairman since its inception, as well as the party's Colorado state party chairman.[5][6]

History

Eric Bodenstab is described on the Unity Party website as having been the first Unity Party candidate, declaring in May 2007 for Boulder, Colorado City Council, even though that is a non-partisan election.[7][8] The Unity Party fielded two Congressional candidates in the 2008 election cycle (Bill Hammons in Colorado's 2nd District, who received 2,176 votes or 0.63%, and Terry Ronzio in Pennsylvania's 12th District, who did not qualify for the ballot).[9] Sherman Reickart declared for Brant, New York Town Council with the Unity Party,[10] Bill Hammons declared for Colorado's 2nd District again on June 22, 2009,[11] Energy Drilling Consultant Levi Hancock declared as the first Unity Party candidate for Colorado Governor in 2009,[12][13] and Oilfield Drilling Engineer Mike Nelson declared as a Unity Party candidate for Colorado's 4th Congressional District.[12][14] Hammons and Nelson are both former residents of Odessa, Texas, even though both now live in Colorado.[15][16]

On January 11, 2010, Navy veteran and Pueblo, Colorado resident Ray Roman declared as the Unity Party's first candidate for US Senate, running against incumbent Senator Michael Bennet.[17] That same month, Hammons appeared on Denver 9 News' Your Show to make the case for changing Colorado election law and allowing the Unity Party's more recently affiliated candidates to petition onto the General Election ballot as Unity Party candidates, along with himself.[18] On May 27, 2010, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed House Bill 10-1271, which will allow Colorado's unaffiliated candidates for public office (including, technically, Unity Party candidates) to run for office if their voter registration has not changed during the year of the election in question, beginning in 2012.[19]

An April 9, 2010 Colorado Statesman article highlighted the fact that the Unity Party of Colorado had fielded twice as many candidates in 2010 as the Green Party of Colorado, and four times as many candidates as the Constitution Party of Colorado.[20]

On July 15, 2010, Hammons announced his withdrawal from the 2nd CD race, citing challenges in obtaining the required number of petition signatures to appear on the ballot a second time.[21] His fellow three Unity Party Colorado candidates had withdrawn as well.[22]

The party was recognized in the state of Colorado from 2008 to 2011 as a Qualified Political Organization[7] as a direct result of the petition of Unity Party Congressional candidate Bill Hammons onto the 2008 General Election ballot with 899 valid signatures.[23] As a QPO, the Unity Party was designated on the Colorado voter registration form as a voter affiliation option,[24] and 179 voters had affiliated with the Unity Party as of October 22, 2008,[25] an increase of 92% over the party's voter registration numbers just three weeks before. 407 Colorado voters had affiliated with the Unity Party as of June 1, 2011,[26] before the party was removed from state voter registration form as a result of its failure to place a candidate on the general election ballot in the 2010 election cycle.[27]

In June 2010, the Unity Party of Utah launched the first state Unity Party website, unityutah.com, and announced its intention to petition, as a party, onto Utah's 2012 ballot.[28][29] As of November 2015, one national, six state (Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina and Texas), and two candidate (Roger Nichols for President, Bill Hammons for US Senate) Facebook pages were linked to from the Unity Party national website home page.[30] On April 27, 2011, Jim Pirtle of Colorado Springs declared as the Unity Party's first and only candidate of the 2012 election cycle, for Colorado's 5th Congressional District.[31] He received 22,738 votes, or 7.41%. However, he appeared on the ballot as a Libertarian.

In August 2014, the Unity Party was placed back on Colorado's voter registration form as the option "Unity," as a result of Hammons's successful petition onto the ballot for the 2014 Colorado U.S. Senate election.[32][33] (In the general election, Hammons came sixth out of six candidates, with 0.3% of the vote [6,427 votes].) As of November 1, 2014, 142 Colorado voters had affiliated with the party, an increase of over 200% over the previous month.[34][35] As of April 1, 2016, 271 Colorado voters had affiliated with the party.[36]

On November 4, 2015 the United National Committee registered with the Federal Election Commission, with Reid Strouss-Tallman listed as Treasurer and Galen Woodson Bercaw as Assistant Treasurer, though Bill Hammons is listed as the Chairman and Custodian of Records, and "W.R. Hammons" is listed on the submission envelope's return address.[37] On November 15, Hammons was mentioned by the Longmont Times-Call as a Unity Party candidate in the 2016 Colorado US Senate race.[38]

Bill Hammons

Unity Party founder Bill Hammons was born in Bad Kreuznach, Germany in 1974 to a career Army officer and moved to the United States when he was three. He was raised in Odessa, Texas from the age of five, graduated from Permian High School of Friday Night Lights fame in 1993, and graduated from New York University's College of Arts and Science in 1997 with a degree English and American Literature (where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity) before working in management at Newsweek Magazine for seven years.[39] [40] [41]

In 2006, Hammons self-published a novel titled "Alternity" about a West Point instructor and US Army officer who travels back in time to 1918 and Germany to murder and take the place of Adolf Hitler, just after the end of World War I and years before Hitler becomes dictator of Germany. [42]

Hammons's campaign site, which has over 1,000 Facebook likes of the home page alone as of April 2016, has a link to his Tinder dating web profile, because "some people think it significant that Bill, who is single, has a dating profile."[43][44]

Platform

As of its April 2016 national convention in Colorado, the Unity Party platform lists 18 positions:[45]

The party's motto is "Not right, not left, but forward."[7]

United National Committee

The United National Committee, the governing body of the Unity Party of America per the Unity Party Constitution[46] adopted on April 17, 2010, was formed on the same day. As of April 2016, the UNC consists of 19 members.[47]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Unity Party of America". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Unity Party of America: Third Way & New Day in American Politics". Unityparty.us. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Running for America – The Unity Party of America's Unity Runners". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  4. ↑ Peterson, Eric S. "Salt Lake City News – News Articles: Unity Party of Utah". Cityweekly.net. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  5. ↑ "The United National Committee of the Unity Party of America". Unityparty.us. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Colorado's Unity Party: Third Way & New Day in American Politics". Unityparty.us. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Unity Party of America". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ Archived August 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Terry Ronzio – Walking for Troops". Electronzio.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Unity Party Candidate Sherman Reickart for Brant NY Town Council". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  11. ↑ Archived June 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. 1 2 "Online Guide to Colorado Politics". Politics1. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Elect Levi". Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  14. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20091111115701/http://www.mikenelsonforcongress.com:80/. Archived from the original on November 11, 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ "Writing and Running in Boulder, Colorado – The Author's Story". Wrhammons.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20100212070053/http://www.mikenelsonforcongress.com:80/Aboutmeandmypointofview.html. Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved August 25, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ "Unity Party Welcome from Unity Party of America Chairman". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Unity Party of America – Not Right, Not Left, But Forward". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Colorado General Assembly". Leg.state.co.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Third party candidates take root...". Colorado Statesman. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Unity Party candidate Bill Hammons drops out of 2nd CD race – Boulder Daily Camera". Dailycamera.com. July 7, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Online Guide to Colorado Politics". Politics1. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Third-party candidate enters fray". SummitDaily.com. June 30, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Elections & Voting" (PDF). Elections.colorado.gov. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Elections & Voting" (PDF). Elections.colorado.gov. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Total Registered Voters By Party Affiliation and Status" (PDF). Sos.state.co.us. 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
  27. ↑ "Political Party Information". Sos.state.co.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  28. ↑ "About the Unity Party of Utah". Unityutah.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  29. ↑ "Unity Party aims for a place on Utah ballot". Deseret News. June 29, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Unity Party of America Home Page". unityparty.us. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  31. ↑ Zubeck, Pam (April 27, 2011). "Pirtle to the rescue? | IndyBlog". Csindy.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  32. ↑ "2014 General Election Candidate Petition List". Sos.state.co.us. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Colorado Voter Registration Form" (PDF). Sos.state.co.us. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Total Registered Voters by Party Affiliation and Status" (PDF). Sos.state.co.us. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Total Registered Voters by Party Affiliation and Status" (PDF). Sos.state.co.us. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Total Registered Voters by Party Affiliation and Status" (PDF). Sos.state.co.us. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  37. ↑ "United National Committee Statement of Organization" (PDF). fec.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Boulder County Republican, Democratic party chiefs prepare for 2016 election battles". timescall.com. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Bill Hammons - NYU Arts and Science Alumni Blog". nyu.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  40. ↑ "The Attentive Eye: Selected Journalism - Helen Dudar - Google Books". Xlibris Corporation. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Bill Hammons (U-CO-Senate)". teapartycheer.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  42. ↑ "ALTERNITY (9781425736095): WR Hammons: Books". amazon.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Bill Hammons Personal Page - Colorado US Senate Candidate's Bio". billisrunning.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  44. ↑ "Bill". gotinder.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  45. ↑ "Balanced Budget Amendment & Term Limits - Unity Party of America". Unityparty.us. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Unity Party Constitution: Constitution of Unity Party of America". Unityparty.us. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  47. ↑ "The United National Committee of the Unity Party of America". Unityparty.us. Retrieved April 17, 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Unity Party of America.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.