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Dear
Forward Party Supporters,
Why
do you think you will be successful when other efforts to launch a new
political party have failed?
We face
this question daily. A key reason is that we are students of those
failed attempts. A key learning is that efforts that started at the
top of the ticket - with the Presidential race - failed. They
collapsed under their own weight. Campaigns constructed around a cult
of personality don’t last. One of the primary reasons that Forward
didn’t run someone for president in 2024 is that we don’t have the
infrastructure built out to run a successful campaign…yet.
We are
focused on building out the infrastructure to support a new political
movement and its candidates up and down the ballot from the ground up.
So while we recognize the importance of high profile races across the
country, our focus in 2024 was on down-ballot races so that we could
build out the party and support infrastructure that will grow each
cycle until we are able to compete fully against the legacy
parties.
You
showed up to do the work!
Volunteer Work
2024 is
the first election cycle where we made a concerted effort to support a
wide variety of candidates across the nation. Through the efforts of
state leadership teams and our national candidate team, we were able
to identify 125+ candidates to receive our endorsement!
While our
state parties across the country engaged in volunteer efforts for
these candidates, we also established a national volunteer program to
get the word out, and then get the vote out for them!
Thanks for all your help and encouragement. It's been awesome to
feel the support of the Forward team in these last weeks of the
campaign!
-Madison Granger, Arlington County Board candidate
Across
Utah, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado, Massachusetts, Kentucky,
Nevada, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and New Jersey,
hundreds of thousands of voters heard about Forward endorsed
candidates.
56
volunteers stepped up to send out over 264,000
messages about these candidates across 10 text bank parties.
258,000 voters were contacted, and over 29,000 of
them engaged in a conversation with our volunteers.
We’re
going to give a special shout-out to Top 5 Volunteers:
- Chris
Hessler, with 13,000 messages sent
- Dawn
Guendert, with 13,000 messages sent
- Wendy
Petry, with 14,000 messages sent
- Ben
Valimont, with 36,000 messages sent
- And
Jeanne Sole, with a ridiculous 49,000 messages sent
These are
truly heroic numbers, and our candidates thank them (and everyone else
who chipped in) for their support! As one voter put it:
“Interesting. Thanks for reaching out. This might be the only
worthwhile political text message I’ve received this
cycle."
State Party Growth
2024 was
an exciting year for the growth of our state parties. Some
highlights:
-
Utah
After receiving minor party status, the Utah
team identified 19 candidates to support. 4 of them are running on the
Forward line, including former state lead Miles Pomeroy. Miles ran for
state treasurer to maintain the minor party status; a goal that he
achieved with room to spare.
The Utah team also supported candidates from the allied
United Utah Party, a minor party in the state that shares many values
with us. Along with the national organization, the team also propelled
John Curtis to a Senate seat.
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Pennsylvania
In order to achieve a
level of party recognition that will allow them to start registering
voters, the Pennsylvania team recruited two statewide candidates: Eric
Settle for Attorney General, and Chris Foster for State
Treasurer.
The press coverage on these candidates was extensive, with one
paper referring to Settle as at least as qualified, if not moreso,
than his legacy party opponents. While the two did not hit the
threshold to gain party status for Forward in PA, they did manage to
receive votes in every county of the Keystone State.
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Washington
Our reverse coattails
strategy was in full effect in Washington state, supporting a “slate”
in Challam and Yakima Counties to drive votes for our top-of-ballot
candidates. In Challam County, Phyllis Bernard was re-elected for PUD
Commissioner; in Yakima County, Kyle Curtis was re-elected as County
Commissioner.
We
supported Judge Dave Larson in his bid for Supreme Court. This is his
third time running, and despite losing two earlier contests, he is
currently leading in a very tight race. He carried both Yakima and
Challam counties. We’re excited to see him clinch victory, as he is a
strong believer in teaching people about our democracy and ensuring
that the rule of law is strictly upheld.
These
aren’t all the stories out there, either! Nevada received their party
designation and can register people for their party. The State Party
team held 15 training sessions, getting the state leadership teams in
a better position to organize members and support candidates.
180+ new state leads were identified in 29 states,
expanding our map for future cycles.
In short,
2024 was truly a year where you, our state leads, membership, and
volunteers, stepped up in a real way. We’re all in this together,
building a movement and delivering a better way to approach politics
for the majority of Americans who are sick of feeling
unheard.
In the
wake of the 2024 election, we know that many of you are feeling anger,
or despair, or any number of other negative emotions. But, in '24 you
all showed up to do the work. Let's keep that energy next year and
grow the party even more.
We can only imagine what this
group will manage to accomplish in 2025!
Best,
Lindsey
Williams Drath
Forward
Party CEO
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