Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah officially has another political party on the books after the Forward Party gained ballot access in the Beehive State.
The party, led at the national level by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, held a press conference last month at the state Capitol to announce it had filed signatures with the state elections office in order to qualify.
The Forward Party was officially certified earlier this week and is now the eighth registered party in the state.
Adam Teuscher, co-lead of the Utah Forward Party, told KSL.com on Tuesday he knows it will be an uphill climb for the party to gain relevance in the state, but said he feels there are many voters who are deeply dissatisfied with the current two-party system in the United States.
"It's a process. It will take some time to get our name out there, but we do feel like we've got a message that really resonates with a certain group of Utahns, a lot of people that are frustrated with the way the system works right now," he said.
In contrast to the United Utah Party, a third party which is based solely in the state, Teuscher said the Forward Party can benefit from national infrastructure and name recognition of leaders like Yang.
The Forward Party policy, at least for now, is primarily focused on several government reforms, allowing candidates to take their own positions on the most hot-button issues of the day.
Teuscher said the party plans to be "laser-focused" on three primary reforms: advocating for alternative voting methods — like ranked-choice or approval voting — open or nonpartisan primaries, and independent redistricting to end partisan gerrymandering.
Tired of left vs. right? Utah welcomes a new political party
The Utah Forward Party on Wednesday submitted signatures to qualify as an official political party in the state.Both Democrats and Republicans are currently sorted along ideological lines, with each party taking distinct positions on often contentious issues such as immigration and abortion.
When asked how the Forward Party can appeal to voters who feel strongly about their side and are unlikely to be swayed, Teuscher said he plans to make the case that the reforms his party is backing will strengthen democratic institutions and make it more realistic for politicians to solve the biggest problems of the day.
"One thing that Forward recognizes is when the battle lines are drawn, it's a lot easier for the parties to just leave the issue unsolved, rather than actually making progress on it," he said. "If it's no longer an issue, (they) can't fearmonger and raise money off of that."
Teuscher said the group is already looking to field candidates for office for upcoming elections in the state, given that the filing deadline is in early January.
Here's a list of the current political parties in Utah, along with the number of active registered voters as of Monday, per the state elections office:
- Republican: 872,181
- Democratic: 228,617
- Independent American: 65,967
- Libertarian: 20,193
- Constitution: 6,673
- United Utah: 2,306
- No Labels: 772
- Forward: No data available
- Unaffiliated voters: 472,041
