Serve America Movement

The Serve America Movement (SAM) was a big tent political organization founded in 2017 by Morgan Stanley lawyer Eric Grossman.[4] The party achieved its first state party in New York with ballot access, but as of November 4, 2021, it lost its ballot status. Under New York election law, parties must get more than 130,000 votes every two years to maintain ballot access.[5] Party officials said afterward they intended to surpass the state elections vote requirement and use petitions to gain ballot access in other states, in order to contest future elections.[6][7]

Not to be confused with Donald Trump's Save America PAC.
Serve America Movement
AbbreviationSAM
ChairmanDavid Jolly
FoundedApril 2017[1]
DissolvedJuly 27th, 2022
Merged intoForward Party
HeadquartersDenver, Colorado[2]
Membership (November 2020)Increase 649[3]
IdeologyBig tent (official)
Majority:
Neoconservatism
Conservative liberalism
Electoral reform
Factions:
Conservatism
Liberalism
Political positionCenter to center-right
Colors      Red, white and blue (national colors)

The party contested its first election in the New York gubernatorial election of 2018 with candidate Stephanie Miner, former chairperson of the New York Democratic Party and former mayor of Syracuse. It merged with the Forward Party and the Renew America Movement in 2022.[8][9]

Foundation and history

The party's founders previously worked as staffers for George W. Bush, including CEO Sarah Lenti, who served under Condoleezza Rice as a Director on the National Security Council, and Reed Galen, who worked on three presidential campaigns and is chief strategist of the party.[10]

On June 18, 2018, Stephanie Miner, a member of the Democratic Party, announced she would run for the 2018 New York gubernatorial election under the party. Miner subsequently picked former Republican Mayor of Pelham Michael Volpe as her running mate.[11]

The former party chair, Scott Muller, stated that he intends to register the party in New York before expanding to create a national party. Miner was required to achieve 50,000 votes in the election, or use petitions, to gain permanent ballot access for the next four years.[12]

SAM announced in 2018 that they would work with the newly created, Kansas-based Party of the Center to gather the 18,000 petition signatures necessary to certify the party on Kansas ballots.[13]

On August 21, 2018, SAM achieved ballot access for their first electoral race in the New York gubernatorial election in 2018. The party gained 40,000 signatures, which far exceeded the 15,000 required, and the petitions were subsequently deemed valid.[14] This enabled them to form a SAM party within the state of New York to contest any future elections they choose to enter. On November 11, 2018, SAM became a ballot-access qualified party in New York state after Miner got 50,672 votes on the party line.[15]

On January 14, 2020, SAM filed a lawsuit against a new law enacted in New York which would remove ballot access from parties if they do not receive 130,000 votes or 2% of the presidential popular vote, whichever is greater.[16]

In May 2020, SAM named David Jolly as executive chairman.[17] Jolly is a former Republican[18] who served as a Member of Congress from Florida's 13th congressional district from 2014 to 2017.

As of November 1, 2020, there were 649 registered members of SAM in New York.[3]

The party has received most of its financial support from Charles Wall, a former vice chairman of Philip Morris International, who provided more than 93% of the group's funding in 2020.[19]

The party announced they were merging with the Forward Party and the Renew America Movement on July 27, 2022.[9][8]

Ideology

The party generally took a centrist or center-right approach, as it was founded by former George W. Bush administration staff members. As a result of the ideological foundations of the party, it aimed to attract both moderate Republicans, Independents, and centrist Democrats[20] in a movement to work for numerous electoral reforms like Ranked Choice Voting, and Open primaries.

Party platform

The party followed a set of general principles rather than an objective ideology of policies, in order to pursue a common outcome without divisive political differences.[21]

The party's priorities include:

Electoral history

Gubernatorial nominees
Serve America Movement gubernatorial tickets – New York
Year State Nominee Running mate Vote count Percentage Place Notes
2018 New York Stephanie Miner Michael Volpe 51,367 .89 5th

Voter registration

New York:

YearRV %Change
20180(0.00%)Steady[23]
2019161(>0.00%)Increase +∞%[24]
2020349(>0.00%)Increase +116.8%[25]

In the 2020 New York primary, more votes were recorded for the party than the number of its registered voters.[26]

See also

References
  1. "What is Serve America Movement? Obscure new party backs Stephanie Miner for governor". The Post-Standard. 19 June 2018.
  2. "Kansas' new Party of the Center joins with national group". The Seattle Times. March 3, 2018.
  3. "Enrollment by County | New York State Board of Elections". elections.ny.gov. 2020-11-01.
  4. "A Morgan Stanley Star Wants You to Back His Political Movement". Bloomberg. July 2, 2018.
  5. Winger, Richard (December 3, 2021). "New York Libertarian and Green Parties file Reply Brief in Ballot Access Case in Second Circuit". Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  6. "Only two minor parties in New York will keep their ballot access". November 4, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  7. "Join Sam (homepage)". SAM - Serve America Movement.
  8. Chen, Shawna (2022-07-28). "Yang announces new Forward party with other centrist groups". Axios. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  9. Reid, Tim (2022-07-28). "Former Republicans and Democrats form new third U.S. political party". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  10. "Ex-Bush staffers are trying to build their own political party - and they know it's going to be a steep climb". Business Insider. April 11, 2018.
  11. "Miner picks Republican village mayor as running mate in governor's race". CNYCentral.com. June 25, 2018.
  12. "What is Serve America Movement? Obscure new party backs Stephanie Miner for governor". Syracuse.com. 19 June 2018.
  13. "National group joins effort to launch Party of the Center in Kansas". LJWorld (Lawrence Journal World). February 28, 2018.
  14. "Cuomo allies drop bid to boot Stephanie Miner from governor's ballot". Syracuse.com. September 5, 2018.
  15. "Stephanie Miner wins ballot line for new Serve America Movement in NY governor race". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  16. "SAM Party Files Federal Lawsuit Against New York Requirement that Parties Poll 130,000 Votes for President". Ballot Access News. January 14, 2020. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  17. "David Jolly named executive chairman of Serve America Movement". 11 May 2020.
  18. "David Jolly officially breaks up with the Republican Party". 9 October 2018.
  19. Markay, Lachlan (Feb 28, 2021). "Ex-tobacco exec bankrolls centrist third party". Axios. Axios Media Inc. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  20. Goldmacher, Shane (June 18, 2018). "Stephanie Miner to Make Independent Bid to Challenge Cuomo". The New York Times.
  21. "Our Principles". SAM - Serve America Movement.
  22. "Repeal "Sore Loser" Laws". Serve America Movement. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  23. "New York Registered Voters 2018" (PDF). elections.ny.gov.
  24. "New York Registered Voters 2019". elections.ny.gov.
  25. "New York Registered Voters 2020". elections.ny.gov.
  26. "NYC poll snafus caused hundreds of Democrats to vote in tiny 3rd party primary". 24 June 2020.
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