Unite America

Unite America

Formation	2013
Purpose	To reform the American political system
Headquarters	Denver, CO
Founder	Charlie Wheelan
Affiliations	National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, Bridge Alliance
Website	www.uniteamerica.org
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]

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] Putting ideas into practice, 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 October 2016, Nick Troiano, former congressional candidate and part of "Forbes 30 under 30" for Law & Policy, joined as executive director.^[7] The organization continued to grow through 2017, attracting talent from both sides of the aisle on a mission to elect enough independents to shift the balance of power in key state and statewide elections.^[8] Unite America adopted its current name in January 2018, aiming to reflect the organization's core mission.^[9] Unite America announced the first-ever nationwide slate of independent candidates in February 2018.^[10]

In March 2019, Unite America announced that they were expanding their mission of accelerating the democracy reform movement, with strategic investments in multi-cycle campaigns and infrastructure.^[11] They also announced the addition of two new board members: philanthropist Kathryn Murdoch and former independent Senate candidate Neal Simon.

Unite America aims to bridge the partisan divide by passing electoral reforms that incentivize leaders to represent their constituents and support candidates who will work across the aisle. It endorses candidates on both federal and statewide levels. Unite America candidates and supporters subscribe to a set of principles laid out in the "Unity Principles."^[12]

Unite America works by making strategic investments to accelerate the democracy reform movement. Through the Unite America Fund, the organization invests in campaigns across four key reform areas:

• Ranked Choice Voting
• Open Primaries
• Independent Redistricting Commissions
• Vote at Home

The organization's commitment to these reforms is based in part on the Harvard Business School study by Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter.

In keeping with their mission of scaling the democracy reform movement, the organization also invests in what they call "movement capacity" to align organizations within the democracy reform space.

The third pillar of the organization is supporting what they call "Unity Candidates"; candidates who are independent-minded, committed to reform, and sign on to the organization's Unity Principles.

Each of Unite America's endorsed candidates abides by a unifying set of principles. Formerly called the "Declaration of Independents," ^[13] published in February 2018, the principles are now called the Unity Principles to reflect the larger aims of the organization. Developed by Unite America's leadership, the document lays out the movement's five key tenets:

First, we put the public interest ahead of any partisan or special interest. Government should represent "We the people" – not the party leaders or those who can buy access to power.

Second, we use common sense and find common ground to solve problems. We reject today's zero-sum politics and instead work together with Democrats and Republicans in an inclusive and civil manner to get things done.

Third, we stand for the timeless values of opportunity, equality and stewardship. We want to empower every American to realize their full potential, uphold equal rights for all under the law, and ultimately leave a stronger country for the next generation.

Fourth, we champion integrity, transparency and accountability in politics. We seek to rebuild America's trust in government by holding ourselves to the highest standards of honor and honesty and by fixing the broken incentives that contribute to political dysfunction.

Fifth, we believe in shared responsibility of civic engagement. As Americans, we understand it is our civic duty to be informed and engaged on important issues."^[14]

In 2019, Unite America released the first State of Democracy Report in which they graded every state based on their status in five reform areas.^[15] In September 2019, Unite America announced their plan to invest in their first portfolio of campaigns based on these reforms.

2019 Reform Investments

Campaign	Reforms	State
Alaskans for Better Elections	Ranked Choice Voting, Nonpartisan top-four primaries, prohibit dark money	Alaska
Rank the Vote NYC	Ranked Choice Voting	New York
Pennsylvanians Against Gerrymandering	Independent Redistricting Commissions	Pennsylvania
Voter Choice Massachusetts	Ranked Choice Voting	Massachusetts

In March 2019, Unite America announced the creation of their new statewide chapter, Unite Virginia.^[16] Unite Virginia would work to reward bipartisanship and support candidates through the 2019 primary elections.

The organization endorsed a bipartisan slate of candidates in Virginia.^[17]

2019 Virginia Endorsements

Candidate	Party	Distinction	District	Result
Martha Mugler	Democrat	Hampton School Board Member	HD-91	Won
Suhas Subramanyam	Democrat	Obama administration alum, volunteer firefighter	HD-87	Won
Emmett Hanger	Republican	Incumbent state senator	SD-24	Won

In an effort to build the movement from the ground up, Unite America endorses and provides resources to independent candidates for state legislatures in a number of viable states, including Colorado, New Mexico, Maine, Alaska, and Washington.^[18]

Unite America formalized its Colorado-concentrated efforts for statehouse elections with the organization of its largest state-focused affiliate, Unite Colorado.^[19] Troiano identified the state's wide-ranging political leanings and the potential for a historic independent candidate victory as the driving motivations for this strategy.^[18] In 2018, Unite Colorado endorsed five independent candidates the Colorado House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate.^[18]

The group will endorse independent candidates running for office in New Mexico state legislature in an effort to promote competition amongst 30 of 70 uncontested New Mexico House of Representatives seats.^[20]

Washington Independents, with support from Unite America, launched in fall of 2017 with the intention of supporting independent, centrist candidates in Washington. Its co-founders were Chris Vance, the former chairman of the state's Republican Party, and Brian Baird, a former Democratic Congressman (WA-3).^[21] The Political Action Committee spent over $100,000 on three candidates for state office in the 2018 general election. All three lost. In spring of 2019, Washington Independents announced that it would suspend operations.^[22]

In March 2019, Unite America launched Unite Virginia in order to focus on Virginia's off-year state legislative elections.^[23] Pivoting from its strategy in the 2018 elections, Unite America chose to support moderate, reform-minded Republicans and Democrats rather than independents. More specifically, it worked with four moderate primary challengers — two on the right and two on the left. Three of the four won their races.^[24]

In 2018, Unite America endorsed the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, an organization that pushed for the implementation of instant-runoff voting in Maine.^[25][26] After a majority of voters approved a RCV citizens ballot initiative in 2016, state lawmakers called a special session to repeal the measure. In the following year, the people of Maine petitioned to override the veto, ultimately voting to restore RCV in Maine in time for the 2018 general election.^[27]

Unite America announced the first-ever slate of national candidates in February 2018, including three gubernatorial candidates and two candidates for US Senate.^[28]

2018 national candidates

Candidate	Distinction	State	Race	Result	Vote percentage
Bill Walker	Incumbent governor of Alaska[29]	Alaska	Governor	Withdrew	N/A
Greg Orman	Entrepreneur and managing member of Exemplar Holdings[30]	Kansas	Governor	Lost	6.50%
Terry Hayes	State Treasurer of Maine[31]	Maine	Governor	Lost	5.91%
Neal Simon	CEO of Bronfman Rothschild and community leader[32]	Maryland	US Senate	Lost	3.74%
Craig O'Dear	Corporate trial attorney in Kansas City[33]	Missouri	US Senate	Lost	1.41%
Marty Grohman	Entrepreneur; State Representative[34]	Maine	US House (ME-1)	Lost	8.8%

In January 2018, Unite Colorado announced a slate of independent candidates for both the Colorado House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate.^[18] In addition, Unite America endorsed independent candidates for state office in Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. All but four were defeated.

2018 state candidates

Candidate	Distinction	State	Position	Result	Vote percentage
Jason Grenn	Incumbent[35]	Alaska	House District 22	Lost	41.6%
Chris Dimond	Union organizer[36]	Alaska	House District 33	Lost	44.0%
Daniel Ortiz	Former high school teacher; Incumbent[37]	Alaska	House District 36	Won	58.3%
Kathy Knecht	Peoria Unified School District Governing Board, member at large[38]	Arizona	South Dakota 21	Lost	46.7%
Steve Peterson	Strategy consultant[39]	Colorado	Senate District 30	Lost	5.7%
Maile Foster	Financial planner; IBM administrator[40]	Colorado	House District 18	Lost	6.9%
Eric Montoya	Thornton, Colorado City Council member[41]	Colorado	House District 31	Disqualified	N/A
Jay Geyer	Professor of ethics and political philosophy[42]	Colorado	House District 33	Lost	4.3%
Thea Chase	Director of the Southwest Innovation Corridor[43]	Colorado	House District 54	Lost	34.0%
Paul Jones	Retired Colorado Parks and Wildlife game warden[44]	Colorado	House District 59	Lost	44.0%
Crystal Canney	CEO of The Knight Canney Group[45]	Maine	Senate District 27	Lost	25.2%
Dennis Welsh	Commercial photographer[46]	Maine	House District 47	Lost	48.8%
Anne Gass	Author; Women's rights advocate[47]	Maine	House District 67	Lost	46.9%
Walter Riseman	Business development background[48]	Maine	House District 69	Won	54.9%
Owen Casas	Veteran; Involved in local government; Incumbent[49]	Maine	House District 94	Lost	47.3%
Ray Ranker	Pastor; Activist[50]	Maryland	House District 21	Lost	6.3%
Tweeti Blancett	Sustainable energy advocate[51]	New Mexico	House District 40	Lost	19.2%
Jarratt Applewhite	Nonprofit leader, small business owner[52]	New Mexico	House District 50	Lost	41.9%
Cory Ann Ellis	Small business owner; Community organizer[53]	South Dakota	House District 7	Lost	14.2%
Laura Sibilia	Economic development[54]	Vermont	House District 127	Won	96.0%
Ben Jickling	Incumbent; Local government experience[55]	Vermont	House District 128	Won	24.9%
John Vihstadt	Incumbent; Local government experience[56]	Virginia	Arlington County Board	Lost	46.4%
Dr. Ann Diamond	Physician[57]	Washington	House District 12-A	Lost	44.3%
Ned Witting	Auditor and financial officer[58]	Washington	House District 25-B	Lost in jungle primary	8.0%
Marco Padilla	Co-founder of Bremerton Visionaries; PhD Candidate[59]	Washington	House District 26-B	Lost in jungle primary	5.3%

Unite America's operating board is made up of leaders from both private and public spheres.^[60]

• 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
• Shawn Riegsecker, CEO and founder of Centro Inc
• Lisa D. T. Rice, political and external affairs strategist
• Marc Merrill, co-chairman, co-CEO, and co-founder of Riot Games
• Ben Goldhirsh, co-founder and chairman of GOOD
• Katherine Gehl, former president and CEO of Gehl Foods