Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, and onetime Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang have joined with several dozen other political officials to start Forward, a new national political third party.
This centrist party will officially launch on Thursday, Reuters reports. Organizers say they think Forward will appeal to Americans who find the two-party system doesn't work for them. Their goal is to gain enough traction to be a viable alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties.
The two pillars of the party's platform are to "reinvigorate a fair, flourishing economy" and to "give Americans more choices in elections, more confidence in a government that works, and more say in our future," Reuters reports. Yang and Todd Whitman will be the initial co-chairs of the party, and a launch event will be held in Houston on Sept. 24. Then, party members will hit the road, stopping in two dozen cities to spread their message and platform.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Forward doesn't have any specific policies yet. Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official during the Trump administration, helped create Forward, and told Reuters while third parties have failed in the past, "the fundamentals have changed. When other third party movements have emerged in the past it's largely been inside a system where the American people aren't asking for an alternative. The difference here is we are seeing an historic number of Americans saying they want one."
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Sudoku hard: October 5, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
