Serve America Movement

The Serve America Movement (SAM) is a big tent political organization founded in 2017 by Morgan Stanley lawyer Eric Grossman.[4] The party achieved its first state party in New York with ballot access. The party has stated that they intend to surpass the elections vote limit or use petitions to gain access in other states, in order to contest future elections.[5]

Serve America Movement
AbbreviationSAM
LeaderNone—Chairman with collective of Directors
ChairmanDavid Jolly
FoundedApril 2017[1]
HeadquartersDenver, Colorado[2]
Membership (November 2020) 649[3]
IdeologyBig tent (official)
Majority:
Neoconservatism
Liberal conservatism
Social liberalism
Factions:
Conservatism
Liberalism
Political positionCenter to center-right
Colors      Red, white and blue (national colors)
Seats in the Senate
0 / 100
Seats in the House
0 / 435
Governorships
0 / 50
State Upper House Seats
0 / 1,972
State Lower House Seats
0 / 5,411
Website
joinsam.org

The party contested its first election in the New York gubernatorial election of 2018 with candidate Stephanie Miner, former chairperson of the New York Democratic Party and former mayor of Syracuse.

Foundation and history

The party's founders previously worked as staffers for George W. Bush, including CEO Sarah Lenti, who served under Condoleezza Rice as a Director on the National Security Council, and Reed Galen, who worked on three presidential campaigns and is chief strategist of the party.[6]

On June 18, 2018, Stephanie Miner, a member of the Democratic Party, announced she would run for the 2018 New York gubernatorial election under the party. Miner subsequently picked former Republican Mayor of Pelham, Michael Volpe as her running mate.[7]

The former party chair, Scott Muller, stated that he intends to register the party in New York before expanding to create a national party. Miner was required to achieve 50,000 votes in the election, or use petitions, to gain permanent ballot access for the next four years.[8]

SAM announced in 2018 that they would work with the newly created, Kansas-based Party of the Center to gather the 18,000 petition signatures necessary to certify the party on Kansas ballots.[9]

On August 21, 2018, SAM achieved ballot access for their first electoral race in the New York Gubernatorial election in 2018. The party gained 40,000 signatures, which far exceeded the 15,000 required, and the petitions were subsequently deemed valid.[10] This enabled them to form a SAM party within the state of New York to contest any future elections they choose to enter. On November 11, 2018, SAM became a ballot-access qualified party in New York state after Miner got 50,672 votes on the party line.[11]

On January 14, 2020, SAM filed a lawsuit against a new law enacted in New York which would remove ballot access from parties if they do not receive 130,000 votes or 2% of the presidential popular vote, whichever is greater.[12]

In May of 2020, SAM named David Jolly as executive Chairman.[13] Jolly is a former Republican[14] who served as a Member of Congress from Florida's 13th Congressional District from 2014-2017.

As of November 1, 2020, there are 649 registered members of SAM in New York.[3]

Ideology

The party generally takes a centrist or center-right approach, as it is founded by former George W. Bush administration staff members. As a result of the ideological foundations of the party, it aims to attract both moderate Republicans and centrist Democrats.[15]

Party platform

The party follows a set of general principles rather than an objective ideology of policies, in order to pursue a common outcome without divisive political differences.[16]

The party's priorities include:

Electoral history

Gubernatorial nominees
Serve America Movement Gubernatorial Tickets - New York
Year State Nominee Running Mate Vote Count Percentage Place Notes
2018 New York Stephanie Miner Michael Volpe 51,367 .89 5th

Voter registration

New York:

YearRV%Change
20180(0.00%)[18]
2019161(>0.00%) >0.00%[19]
2020349(>0.00%) >0.00%[20]

In the 2020 New York primary, more votes were recorded for the party than the number of its registered voters.[21]

See also

References
  1. "What is Serve America Movement? Obscure new party backs Stephanie Miner for governor". The Post-Standard.
  2. "Kansas' new Party of the Center joins with national group". The Seattle Times. 3 March 2018.
  3. "Enrollment by County | New York State Board of Elections". elections.ny.gov. 2020-11-01.
  4. "A Morgan Stanley Star Wants You to Back His Political Movement". Bloomberg. July 2, 2018.
  5. "Join Sam (homepage)". SAM - Serve America Movement.
  6. "Ex-Bush staffers are trying to build their own political party - and they know it's going to be a steep climb". Business Insider. Apr 11, 2018.
  7. "Miner picks Republican village mayor as running mate in governor's race". CNYCentral.com. June 25, 2018.
  8. "What is Serve America Movement? Obscure new party backs Stephanie Miner for governor". Syracuse.com.
  9. "National group joins effort to launch Party of the Center in Kansas". LJWorld (Lawrence Journal World). Feb 28, 2018.
  10. "Cuomo allies drop bid to boot Stephanie Miner from governor's ballot". Syracuse.com. Sep 5, 2018.
  11. "Stephanie Miner wins ballot line for new Serve America Movement in NY governor race". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  12. "SAM Party Files Federal Lawsuit Against New York Requirement that Parties Poll 130,000 Votes for President". Ballot Access News. January 14, 2020. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020.
  13. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/331849-david-jolly-named-executive-chairman-of-serve-america-movement
  14. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/276927-david-jolly-dumps-the-gop
  15. Goldmacher, Shane (June 18, 2018). "Stephanie Miner to Make Independent Bid to Challenge Cuomo". The New York Times.
  16. "Our Principles". SAM - Serve America Movement.
  17. "Our Platform: Repeal "Sore Loser" Laws". Serve America Movement. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  18. "New York Registered Voters 2018" (PDF). elections.ny.gov.
  19. "New York Registered Voters 2019". elections.ny.gov.
  20. "New York Registered Voters 2020". elections.ny.gov.
  21. https://nypost.com/2020/06/24/nyc-poll-snafus-caused-hundreds-of-democrats-to-vote-in-3rd-party-primary/
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