Watch CBS News

Minor Political Party In Colorado Reaches Milestone

DENVER (CBS4) - Last month there were three minor parties recognized by the State of Colorado. Now there's a fourth.

The Unity Party of Colorado last week got enough registered voters to now be classified as a minor party.

"They like the thrill of being part of the organization, we're going somewhere we've got momentum we have membership growing," said Bill Hammons, who started the party in 2004.

Bill Hammons
Bill Hammons (credit: CBS)

The Unity Party's slogan is "Not right, not left, but forward." And Hammons is now doing what his slogan says, taking a big step forward.

"We've had a huge boost since late October or early November because of what's going on in Washington, what's not going on in Washington, and we're riding that wave," Hammons said.

The party has more than doubled its number of registered voters. They were at 400 last September, they're now at more than 1,000.

With the state now declaring this is officially a minor party, that means some perks.

"Candidates had to petition onto the ballot, including myself, had to get 1,000 voter signatures. Now we don't have to do that anymore," Hammons said. "Now we don't have to do that anymore."

The party says it's hoping to represent centrist voters with ideas that are growing in popularity, including a balanced budget amendment, federal term limits and outlawing of gerrymandering.

Hammons is running for governor next year, and hopes the discontent with the two major parties both nationally and locally will help him.

"The next goal is to really get 10 percent in a statewide election and then we're going to be a major party and things can get really interesting then," he said.

The Colorado Secretary of State's office pointed out that more than one third of voters in Colorado have no party affiliation at all.

Hammons told CBS4 he expects a lot of Unity Party candidates to fill the ballot next year.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.