The current structures of America’s political system encourage toxic polarization, extreme policy positions, and blatant self-interest. No wonder we find ourselves in the midst of a government shutdown. All the while, the majority of voters yearn for good government and true representation.

Americans are deeply dissatisfied with our politics. More than half the respondents in a recent poll believe we are in a constitutional crisis, only half believe our government is a democracy, and more than 60 percent favor a viable third-party alternative. While congressional approval sits at roughly 26 percent, most individual members are reelected at a staggering rate of more than 96 percent.

The dissatisfied majority is vastly underrepresented by current elected leaders. Independents now consistently outnumber registered Republicans or Democrats nationally. Meanwhile, the two major parties dominate redistricting measures and control election rules that effectively lock out alternatives.

This is why the Forward Party was founded: By giving Americans disappointed with the status quo a real choice, we can populate town halls, state capitols, and Congress with principled lawmakers committed to country over party and solutions over partisan gridlock.

What would the halls of the Capitol have looked like last month if a dozen members of Congress elected outside of the two-party system had held out their votes until Republicans and Democrats came together and compromised to explore an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax subsidies? This is an issue that 77 percent of Americans can agree on, and yet that did not happen.

There are about 520,000 elected offices in the United States. In 2024, 70 percent of races examined by Ballotpedia ran uncontested. Combine that with the fact that only 69 out of 435 US House seats are competitive, with 85 percent of seats decidedly red or blue, and we see a map of America with little real political competition.

The current structures of America’s political system encourage toxic polarization, extreme policy positions, and blatant self-interest. No wonder we find ourselves in the midst of a government shutdown. All the while, the majority of voters yearn for good government and true representation.

Americans are deeply dissatisfied with our politics. More than half the respondents in a recent poll believe we are in a constitutional crisis, only half believe our government is a democracy, and more than 60 percent favor a viable third-party alternative. While congressional approval sits at roughly 26 percent, most individual members are reelected at a staggering rate of more than 96 percent.

In uncompetitive congressional districts, the party not in power has all but given up, leaving voters no choice at the ballot box. Beyond congressional districts, entire states have been deemed blue or red. The Democratic Party isn’t investing in serious competition in red-state Utah, and the Republican Party isn’t investing in serious competition in blue-state Massachusetts.

Yet in Massachusetts, 65 percent of voters are registered as unaffiliated or with third parties. Of the nine congressional districts in Massachusetts, only two districts had a Republican on the ballot running against the Democratic candidate last November. This is where the Forward Party comes in: to give voters a choice.

The Forward Party is committed to running values-based, solution-oriented candidates for all offices at the state and local level, as we build the infrastructure needed to stand up viable campaigns for federal office.

We will build a big tent by leading with shared values like accountability, transparency, and commitment to the rule of law instead of rigid ideology. We welcome disaffected Democrats, Republicans, and independents who are tired of toxic partisanship and lack of policy solutions. We are building from the ground up, starting with local races and community leadership rather than national personalities.

We will foster civil discourse and respectful disagreement to reach consensus on how to solve challenges affecting Americans like affordability, the rise of AI, physical and mental health challenges, immigration, crime and safety, and educating our children for a changing world. These core issues can unite diverse voters around practical solutions. We will leverage technology to drive grass-roots organizing, participatory policy-making, and transparency. We will seek to reframe political language, talking about problem-solvers and community-first governance instead of left vs. right or us vs. them.

Over the past 30 years, there have been multiple attempts to introduce competition into the political process. However, they have all been in races for president, including Ross Perot, Mike Bloomberg, and the No Labels Unity Ticket. With hundreds of thousands of elected offices across the country, voters have the opportunity to introduce competition into the political process from the ground up. Additionally, in a gridlocked Congress, a new political party can be the most powerful voting bloc with fewer than a dozen members.

We’re not just offering an alternative party. We’re working for a better system. A system in which election rules are fair, primary voters aren’t locked into extremes, and public servants who work toward consensus problem-solving are rewarded. America deserves more choices, not more division.