The Forward Party announced in a press release earlier this month that it joined in a formal merger with the Independence Party of South Carolina, becoming the Forward Party of South Carolina and giving Forward another state with ballot access.
According to the press release, shared on the Forward Party website in October, leadership from both organizations met in Charleston to publicly declare the merger. Forward Party co-founder and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman also attended the announcement and gave remarks. To facilitate questions on how the new organization will operate, a joint website has now been launched.
The release included quotes from Clint Eisenhauer, who led the Forward group before the merger, and Wayne Griffin, the now-former Chair of the Independence Party of South Carolina. Griffin mentioned that the new party is already organized in “about a third of [South Carolina] counties now, with more on the way.”
According to the new site, a part of the former Independence Party of South Carolina leadership will continue their roles with the Forward Party. However, Chair Wayne Griffin is the only individual apparent right now. The previous Forward Party leadership, including Clint Eisenhauer, will remain in a separate “Leadership Team.”
“The South Carolina Independence Party has absorbed the South Carolina Forward Party community and assets,” the site reads. “Wayne Griffin, previously the SCIP Executive Committee Chair, will be the Chair of the new entity, and the new executive committee will be composed of leaders from both parties. The name of the new entity has been changed to the Forward Party of South Carolina.”
The merger also gives the Forward Party a state organization located in South Carolina with ballot access. However, the site states that the new organization is not running a presidential candidate.
“That race—even when added to all federal races—represents less than 1% of the elections across America,” the party said about running a presidential candidate. “There are 500,000 races down the ballot (many of which are uncontested) that determine the kitchen-table issues that really affect the lives of Americans. To build a political party to last into the future, that is where we believe we have to start.”
Readers of Independent Political Report can locate the new website, as well as a video discussion between Griffin and Eisenhauer on the recent merger, at this link.
Be First to Comment