Unite America
 | |
| Formation | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Denver, CO |
Founder | Charlie Wheelan |
| Affiliations | National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, Bridge Alliance |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | The Centrist Project |
Unite America (previously known as the Centrist Project) is an American grassroots organization founded by Charlie Wheelan with the goal of reforming the political system and bridging the partisan divide. Unite America supports both electoral political reforms as well as independent-minded candidates.[1]
Affiliated politicians include former Alaska Governor Bill Walker, former Iowa state senator David Johnson, Greg Orman, and Evan McMullin.[2]
History
[edit]Author and educator Charles Wheelan published "The Centrist Manifesto"[3] in 2013, inspired by the failed bipartisan efforts surrounding the Simpson-Bowles Commission in 2011.[4] In the book, he outlines an approach to government in which a "Centrist Party" challenges partisanship by controlling the swing vote and facilitating compromise between Democrats and Republicans.[5] Wheelan worked with business, political, and academic leaders from across the country to form the Centrist Project in 2014, which would eventually become Unite America.[6]
In 2016, Nick Troiano, a former congressional candidate, joined the organization's board as executive director.[7][8] Troiano pushed the organizations towards supporting structural election reforms, such as nonpartisan redistricting.[7]
In 2017, the Centrist Project opened its national headquarters in Denver, Colorado.[9] The organization then changed its name to Unite America.[10] That same year, an affiliated state-based organization, Washington Independents, launched to support independent candidates in Washington.[11]
In 2018, Unite America and its state-focused local affiliate, Unite Colorado, endorsed independent candidates for the Colorado State Legislature.[10] The organization picked Colorado because of its narrowly divided Legislature and a belief that voters there would be receptive to independent candidates.[10] That same year Unite America also supported a slate of independent national candidates for state gubernatorial offices and the U.S. Senate.[12]
In March 2019, a new statewide chapter, Unite Virginia, launched to support centrist Democratic and Republican candidates.[13]
In September 2019, Unite America announced more than $5 million in commitments through the Unite America Fund[14] to support election reform campaigns in Alaska,[15] Massachusetts,[16] Pennsylvania,[17] and New York.[18] The two largest donors to the fund were Kathryn Murdoch and Marc Merrill.[15] In November 2019, New York City voters approved ranked-choice voting through a City Charter amendment. The change only applied to primary and special elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and City Council.[19][20]
Board of directors
[edit]Unite America's board of directors includes:[21]
- Charles Wheelan, founder and senior economics lecturer at Dartmouth College
- Neal Simon, former candidate for US Senate
- Kathryn Murdoch, co-founder and president of Quadrivium
- Lisa D. T. Rice, political and external affairs strategist
- Marc Merrill, co-chairman, co-CEO, and co-founder of Riot Games
- Randy Peeler
- Kent Thiry
References
[edit]- ↑ "Political Reformers Gain Steam – With an Eye on 2020". rollcall.com. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
- ↑ "Anti-Trump Independents Are Starting to Organize". Politico Magazine. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- ↑ Wheelan, Charles (2013-04-19). The Centrist Manifesto. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393346879.
- ↑ "The Man Behind the Movement: An Interview with Dr. Charles Wheelan – Free Wheel Media". Free Wheel Media. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "The Centrist Manifesto". books.wwnorton.com. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- ↑ "Our Story". Unite America. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- 1 2 Rebecca Boone; Nicholas Riccardi (October 31, 2024). "A national campaign to lessen polarization pushes states to ditch partisan primaries". Associated Press.
- ↑ "Our Story". Unite America.
- ↑ Ernest Luning (November 6, 2017). "Centrist Project hopes to break statehouse gridlock by electing independent candidates". Colorado Politics.
- 1 2 3 Ernest Luning (January 8, 2018). "Centrist Project launches initial Colorado slate of unaffiliated legislative candidates, announces name change". Colorado Politics.
- ↑ Jim Brunner (November 16, 2017). "Is there room for a political center in Washington state? Ex-officials – a Democrat and a Republican – start new group to find out". The Seattle Times.
- ↑ Shawn M Griffiths (March 13, 2018). "Unite America Director: History Will Be Made In November". Independent Voter News.
- ↑ Hankerson, Mechelle (27 March 2019). "National group wants to back Virginia centrists, boost bipartisanship". www.nbc12.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
- ↑ "Unite America Announces Investments in Four Reform Campaigns". Unite America. September 19, 2019.
- 1 2 James Brooks (November 12, 2010). "Outside group donates big to Alaska ranked-choice voting ballot measure". Anchorage Daily News.
- ↑ Dan Sheehan (September 23, 2020). "Question 2: Ranked-Choice voting, explained". Dorchester Reporter.
- ↑ Jason Altmire (October 12, 2019). "Reclaiming the center in Pennsylvania politics". York Daily Record.
- ↑ M. Mitchell Waldrop (September 24, 2021). "Can ranked-choice voting heal our poisoned politics". Knowable Magazine.
- ↑ Erin Durkin (November 5, 2019). "Ranked-choice voting adopted in New York City, along with other ballot measures". Politico.
- ↑ Li Zhou (November 5, 2019). "New York City adopts ranked-choice voting, a major milestone for the reform". Vox.
- ↑ "Board". Unite America. Retrieved 2026-09-22.