United Independent Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Evan Falchuk |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Dissolved | 2017 |
| Membership (2015) | 30,368[1] |
| Ideology | Centrism Social liberalism Modern liberalism |
| Political position | Center to center-left |
| Colors | Blue & White |
| Seats in the Massachusetts Senate | 0 / 40 |
| Seats in the Massachusetts House | 0 / 160 |
The United Independent Party or UIP was a political party based in Massachusetts, United States. The chairman of the UIP was Evan Falchuk, a former health care executive who submitted enough signatures to be on the 2014 gubernatorial ballot.[2] When the party and Falchuk announced their intention to run in 2014, it billed itself as pragmatically progressive and fiscally sensible.[3]
The party won more than 3% of the vote in the 2014 gubernatorial ballot and was officially recognized in Massachusetts as a major party, alongside Democrats, Republicans, and the Green-Rainbow Party.[4] Following the 2014 election, the party announced that it would seek to enroll 50,000 Massachusetts residents in the UIP by the end of 2015.[5]
The UIP was spearheading an effort to have a referendum on the Boston bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics[6] before the bid was withdrawn.
In November 2016, the UIP lost official party status in Massachusetts when it failed to get more than 3% of the vote.[7]
In February 2017, party President Evan Falchuk left the UIP and joined the Democratic Party. Without their president, or official party status it was forced to disband.[8] Falchuk hinted that he was leaving the door open for a possible run for governor in 2018 but declined to run.[9]
- ^ "Massachusetts Registered Voter Enrollment: 1948-2015". Retrieved July 20, 2015.
- ^ Miller, Joshua (June 23, 2014). "Independent candidate Evan Falchuk launches advertising campaign, submits signatures to get on ballot". Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ Tyler, Taylor (July 14, 2013). "Newly Formed United Independent Party Makes MA Gubernatorial Run". Independent Voter Network. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ Emmanouilidou, Lydia (November 6, 2014). "United Independent Party Gains Official Status". WGBH. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ Rizzuto, Robert (November 18, 2014). "Evan Falchuk's political mission in Massachusetts continues as he shifts focus to enrolling 50K people in United Independent Party". The Republican. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ Lehigh, Scott (January 22, 2015). "Let the public vote on the Olympics". Boston Globe. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ "Massachusetts Directory of Political Parties and Designations". Secretary of State of Massachusetts. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ Schoenberg, Shira (12 February 2017). "Independent Evan Falchuk joins Democratic Party". MassLive. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ "Fresh off Olympic win, Falchuk won't rule out run for governor". www.bostonherald.com. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 2017-04-08.