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Unity Party of America

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Unity Party of America
ChairmanBill Hammons
Founded2004 (2004)
IdeologyCentrism
International affiliationNone
ColorsRed, white, and blue
Website
www.unityparty.us

The Unity Party of America is a centrist political party founded on November 4, 2004[1] which has a membership in the 32 states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin listed on its website. The party has been officially recognized in the state of Colorado since July, 2008 as a Qualified Political Organization,[2] and became officially recognized as a direct result of the petition of Unity Party Congressional candidate Bill Hammons onto the 2008 General Election ballot with 899 valid signatures.[3] As a QPO, the Unity Party is designated on the official Colorado voter registration form as a voter affiliation option,[4] and 179 voters had affiliated with the Unity Party as of October 22, 2008,[5] an increase of 92% over the party's voter registration numbers just three weeks before. 384 Colorado voters had affiliated with the Unity Party as of March 1, 2011.[6] 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.[7][8]

Recent 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.[2][9] The Unity Party fielded two Congressional candidates in the 2008 election cycle (Bill Hammons in Colorado's 2nd District (0.6%) and Terry Ronzio in Pennsylvania's 12th District (did not qualify for the ballot).[10] Sherman Reickart declared for Brant, New York Town Council with the Unity Party,[11] Bill Hammons declared for Colorado's 2nd District again on June 22, 2009,[12] Energy Drilling Consultant Levi Hancock declared as the first Unity Party candidate for Colorado Governor in 2009,[13][14] and Oilfield Drilling Engineer Mike Nelson has declared as a Unity Party candidate for Colorado's 4th Congressional District.[13][15] Hammons and Nelson are both former residents of Odessa, Texas, even though both now live in Colorado.[16][17] 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.[18] His fellow three Unity Party Colorado candidates had withdrawn as well.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

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.[23]

Platform

The Unity Party supports a Balanced Budget Amendment, a shift of Federal taxes from income to carbon emissions, a full health care tax deduction for those "forced" to pay for their own health coverage, a "Tithe Pool" to guarantee entitlements on a year-by-year basis, term limits of two terms for US Senators and four terms for US Representatives, outlawing the drawing of legislative districts along partisan lines (i.e., gerrymandering), and appointing panels of retired judges to oversee the drawing of legislative districts.[24] The party's motto is "Not right, not left, but forward."[2]

United National Committee

The United National Committee, the governing body of the Unity Party of America per the Unity Party Constitution [25] adopted on April 17, 2010, was formed on the same day. As of January 2011, the UNC consists of seven members.[26]

Origins

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."[27] Unity Runners, in turn, had its origins in Runners for Clark, an antecedent organization which supported the Presidential candidacy of General Wesley Clark.[28] Bill Hammons has been the party's national chairman since its inception.[20]

Notes and references

  1. ^ http://unityparty.us/unity-party-origins.htm
  2. ^ a b c d http://www.unityparty.us/unity-party-origins.htm
  3. ^ http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080630/NEWS/529915240
  4. ^ http://www.elections.colorado.gov/WWW/default/Clerks%20Corner/SOS%20Approved%20Forms/2008_forms/approved_fillable_combo_vr_english_070208.pdf
  5. ^ http://www.elections.colorado.gov/WWW/default/2008%20Voter%20Registration%20Numbers/October_22_2008/vr_stats_by_party_10.22.2008.pdf
  6. ^ http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/VoterRegNumbers/2011/February/VotersByPartyStatus.pdf
  7. ^ http://unityutah.com/pages/About.html
  8. ^ http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700044235/Unity-Party-aims-for-a-place-on-Utah-ballot.html
  9. ^ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jun/09/no-headline---10abodw/
  10. ^ http://electronzio.com
  11. ^ http://www.unityparty.us/reickart-for-council.htm
  12. ^ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/22/bill-hammons-unity-party-congress-jared-polis/
  13. ^ a b http://www.politics1.com/CO.htm
  14. ^ http://www.electlevi.com
  15. ^ http://www.mikenelsonforcongress.com
  16. ^ http://www.wrhammons.com/authors-short-story.htm
  17. ^ http://www.mikenelsonforcongress.com/Aboutmeandmypointofview.html
  18. ^ http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_15524777
  19. ^ http://politics1.com/co.htm
  20. ^ a b http://www.unityparty.us/unity-party-welcome.htm
  21. ^ http://www.unityparty.us/newsroom.html
  22. ^ http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/CLICS2010A/csl.nsf/BillFoldersHouse?openFrameset
  23. ^ http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/991746-third-party-candidates-take-root
  24. ^ http://unityparty.us/whatwestandfor.html
  25. ^ http://www.unityparty.us/unity-party-constitution.htm
  26. ^ http://www.unityparty.us/united-national-committee.htm
  27. ^ http://www.unityparty.us/running-unity-party.htm
  28. ^ http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-11682-unity-party-of-utah.html
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