A political organization in Illinois that emerged from the 2024 independent presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and helped lobby for his confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is taking steps to field a candidate for governor in the 2026 election cycle.
Richard Winger of Ballot Access News reported this week that the Independence Party, a group originally formed by former Kennedy campaign volunteers as the Illinois Committee for Independent Political Action, is preparing to pursue ballot access for the statewide ballot in 2026. According to the party’s website, the group is backing Gary Pierce as a gubernatorial candidate, with planning meetings scheduled for early February.
The party has not publicly said whether Pierce intends to seek ballot access as an independent candidate or as the nominee of the Independence Party itself, though the petition requirements are similar in either case. Both an independent candidate and a newly formed political party seeking recognition would need to submit at least 25,000 valid signatures. If Pierce is running as a member of the party, he would need to receive at least five percent of the statewide vote for the group to continue qualifying for future races.
The Independence Party describes itself as an outgrowth of Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign that aims to continue independently organizing around themes prioritized during his bid, including public health reform, civil liberties, and opposition to corporate influence in government. The group also credits its organizers with helping mobilize support for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative and his successful confirmation as head of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration.
Information published online shows the party held an inaugural convention in April 2025 using a hybrid format that combined various in-person meetings with a virtual platform. Its current leadership roster lists Rich Whitney as chair, Pierce as vice chair, Rocco Nicosia as secretary, and Kate Slattery as treasurer. There are also several directors and a fundraiser.
Notably, Whitney is a longtime figure in Illinois third party politics who previously helped co-found the Illinois Green Party and served as its first gubernatorial nominee in 2006. He also formerly served as co-chair of the Green Party Peace Action Committee.
On its website, the party says it intends to operate both as an independent political organization and as an organized caucus capable of working within the Democratic and Republican parties. “There is precedent for such dual-party affiliation,” the party states. “For example, Ron Paul once ran for president as the candidate of the Libertarian Party, yet he also served several terms in Congress as a member of the Republican Party – all while remaining true to his core principles.”
The group said that Kennedy’s decision to align himself with Trump and the Republican Party following the 2024 election, along with what it considers growing interest among some Republicans with regards to peace, civil liberties, censorship, and corporate influence over regulatory agencies, makes it practical to operate both independently and within existing parties. It also likened its strategy to the Tea Party movement that emerged following the 2008 election cycle.
The Independence Party further says it plans to support candidates willing to endorse a limited set of core principles, which it treats as a safeguard against corruption and the influence of outside money and lobbyists. “The party that we aim to build must be different in kind from the Democratic and Republican parties,” the group said. “It must be firmly grounded on a set of principles, to prevent the forms of corruption and betrayal that have marked American politics for generations.”
To that end, the party has adopted a formal pledge for members and candidates, which leaders say will be used to promote accountability and prevent affiliated officeholders from abandoning their stated principles once elected. While the group has not released a finalized list of positions, it has said it would be unrealistic to organize around the entirety of Kennedy’s 2024 platform and instead intends to focus on what it regards as its central themes.
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