The Serve America Movement (SAM) was a

big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined ideology, seek voters who adhere to that ideology, and att ...

political organization A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in polit ...

founded in 2017 by

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attorney Eric Grossman. The party achieved its first state party in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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. 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. The party contested its first election in the New York gubernatorial election of 2018 with candidate Stephanie A. Miner (SAM), former chairperson of the New York Democratic Party and former mayor of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. It merged with the

Forward Party Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sma ...

and the

Renew America Movement The Renew America Movement (RAM) was an American political group founded in 2021 by former staffers from Republican Party (United States), Republican Party administrations, with the intention of working to reduce political polarization in the Unite ...

in 2022.

Foundation and history

The party's founders previously worked as staffers for

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, including CEO Sarah Lenti, who served under

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

as a Director on the National Security Council, and Reed Galen, who worked on three presidential campaigns and is chief strategist of the party. 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. 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. 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. 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. This enabled them to form a SAM party within the state of

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. 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. In May 2020, SAM named

David Jolly David Wilson Jolly (born October 31, 1972) is an American politician, attorney, and former lobbyist who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district from 2014 to 2017 as a Republican. After leaving office, Jolly ...

as executive chairman. Jolly is a former Republican who served as a Member of Congress from

Florida's 13th congressional district Florida's 13th congressional district is an List of United States congressional districts, electoral district for the United States Congress, U.S. Congress on Florida's Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast, assigned to Pinellas County, F ...

from 2014 to 2017. As of November 1, 2020, there were 649 registered members of SAM in New York. The party has received most of its financial support from Charles Wall, a former vice chairman of

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. Marlboro is PMI’s most recognized brand, but in the last quarter of 2023, Iqos generated the greatest revenue. Philip Mor ...

, who provided more than 93% of the group's funding in 2020. The party announced they were merging with the

and the

on July 27, 2022.

Ideology

The party generally took a

approach, as it was founded by former

administration staff members. As a result of the ideological foundations of the party, it aimed to attract both moderate

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Independents, and centrist Democrats in a movement to work for numerous electoral reforms like Ranked Choice Voting, and

Open primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

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. The party's priorities include: * Addressing

income inequality In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes ...

* Innovating health care * Improving the education system * Remaining fiscally responsible * Promoting diversity * Embracing free markets * Providing simple and fair tax * Supporting

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

domestically and internationally * Undertaking criminal justice reform * Pursue

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results. Description Reforms can include changes to: * Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...

(including repealing sore loser laws) * Rejecting

isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...

Electoral history

Gubernatorial nominees

Voter registration

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

References

External links

* {{New York political parties 2017 establishments in the United States 2022 disestablishments in the United States Defunct conservative parties in the United States Defunct liberal parties in the United States Political parties established in 2017 Political parties disestablished in 2022 Political parties in Colorado Political parties in New York (state) Defunct political parties in the United States Centrist political parties in the United States