Better for America (BFA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that was dedicated to getting nationwide

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

for an independent candidate for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

in the 2016 election. The effort was inspired by the unpopularity of the two major party nominees,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, and was seen as part of the

Stop Trump movement The Never Trump movement, also called the #nevertrump, Stop Trump, anti-Trump, or Dump Trump movement, began as an effort on the part of a group of Republicans (known as Never Trump Republicans) and other prominent conservatives to prevent R ...

. The organization's initial strategy was to gain ballot access in states that do not require a candidate to be named, and then name its candidate after the major party conventions. The candidate was planned to be named by an advisory board rather than through traditional primary elections, or through a crowdsourcing effort like the failed

Americans Elect Americans Elect was a political organization in the United States known primarily for its efforts to stage a national online primary for the 2012 US Presidential Election. Although it was successful in obtaining signatures to get on the ballot i ...

effort in the 2012 election. On August 8, 2016, it was reported that

Evan McMullin David Evan McMullin (born April 2, 1976) is an American politician and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. McMullin ran as an independent in the 2016 United States presidential election and in the 2022 United States Senate electi ...

, an anti-Trump Republican and former

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA) official, would be Better for America's nominee. McMullin was officially nominated on August 24. In July, the organization filed petitions in two states,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. By early August, Arkansas had accepted the petition, while New Mexico had rejected the petition because it did not have enough valid signatures, although the New Mexico decision was challenged in court. On August 22, the organization announced that it was ceasing further ballot access efforts. On September 8, the

New Mexico Secretary of State The secretary of state of New Mexico is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of New Mexico. Twenty-six individuals have held the office of secretary of state since statehood. Since 1923, every elected N ...

reversed his decision and placed Better For America on the ballot. Notable people involved in the organization include conservative donor

John Kingston III John Kingston III (born October 23, 1965) is an American attorney, investor, and political activist based in Boston. He is the founder and president of the non-profit organization Better for America. He also co-founded the non-profit organizations ...

and former

New Jersey Governor The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (née Todd; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration o ...

Lawrence Lessig Lester Lawrence Lessig III (born June 3, 1961) is an American academic, attorney, and political activist. He is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard ...

and

Randy Barnett Randy Evan Barnett (born February 5, 1952) is an American legal scholar. He serves as the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and is the director of the Georg ...

expressed their support for the organization in a ''Time'' opinion piece.

References

External links

Official website
{{United States presidential election, 2016 2016 United States presidential election Election and voting-related organizations