The Renew America Movement (RAM) was an American political group founded in 2021 by former staffers from Republican Party administrations, with the intention of working to reduce political polarization in the United States. In 2022 it merged with the Serve America Movement, and the Forward Party, to form a political party under the Forward Party name, which was launched on September 24, 2022.

History

The Renew America Movement founding was led by former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor, who served under former President Donald Trump. Their stated goals were to unite Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters "...who have the courage to stand up against political extremists across the country",[1] for a reduction of political polarization in the United States.[2]

Founding members of the group also included Republicans George Conway,[3] Anthony Scaramucci,[3] 2016 presidential candidate Evan McMullin,[3] former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld, former Governor of Pennsylvania and former head of the Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge,[3] former Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman.[4][5] Democratic Party founding members include US House of Representatives members Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.[3]

In October 2021, the group released a list of 13 Republican members of Congress that they planned to run against in the 2022 midterm elections. The Congress members on the list had all voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on January 6, and had also voted against impeaching former President Trump following the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[6] These included Utah Representative Burgess Owens and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy,[6] Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.[7]

In February 2022, the group publicly condemned the Republican National Committee's decision to censure Republican US Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their participation in the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[8]

In July 2022, RAM announced that they were merging with the Serve America Movement, and the Forward Party, to form a political party under the Forward Party name,[9][10][11] which was launched on September 24, 2022, at a convention in Houston, Texas.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "About". Renew America Movement.
  2. ^ Taylor, Miles; Whitman, Christine Todd (October 11, 2021). "Opinion | We Are Republicans. There's Only One Way to Save Our Party From Pro-Trump Extremists". New York Times.
  3. ^ a b c d e Halpern, Sue (June 9, 2022). "Are Crossover Efforts to Defeat Extreme Republicans Gaining Ground?". The New Yorker.
  4. ^ "Anti-Trump Republicans Launch New Group to Impact Midterms". Bloomberg News. June 24, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Renew America Movement: A Center-Right Third Party Taking Shape". Niskanen Center. October 26, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Anti-Trump Republicans target Burgess Owens". Salt Lake Tribune. October 28, 2021.
  7. ^ "Renew America Movement Unveils Slate Of House Republicans To Unseat in 2022". Renew America Movement. October 27, 2021.
  8. ^ "Republican figures condemn RNC's decision to censure Cheney and Kinzinger". Axios. February 7, 2022.
  9. ^ Reid, Tim (July 28, 2022). "Former Republicans and Democrats form new third U.S. political party". Reuters.
  10. ^ David, Jolly; Whitman, Christine Todd; Andrew, Yang (July 27, 2022). "Opinion: Most third parties have failed. Here's why ours won't". Washington Post.
  11. ^ "Centrists to launch Forward, new third US political party". The Guardian. Reuters. July 27, 2022. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  12. ^ "Forward Party gaining traction days ahead of Houston convention". ABC13 Houston. September 22, 2022.
  13. ^ Hardy 8, Michael (September 26, 2022). "The Forward Party Wants to Disrupt Traditional Politics. But Can It Win Elections?". Texas Monthly.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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