The People's Party (formerly the Movement for a People's Party, MPP) was a
syncretic
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...
political organization in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
aimed at "forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence."
Initially a
progressive political organization, Nick Brana formed the party after the
2016 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
as a successor to the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" group.
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
declined to be the People's Party's figurehead, instead seeking the presidential nomination in the
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 election. The primaries and caucuses took p ...
.
In 2023, Brana joined the
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 2024 presidential campaign. In 2025, MPP's website went offline.
History
In 2017, Nick Brana founded the Movement for a People's Party (MPP) out of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" group,
which had failed to gain Bernie Sanders's support.
Brana had worked on
Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign as the National Political Outreach Coordinator.
In September 2017, the group gave an invitation with 50,000 signatures to Sanders to lead the creation of the People's Party, which Sanders ignored.
In August 2020, the organization held a virtual People's Convention
that was viewed by 400,000 people on various platforms.
Speakers included former Democratic Party
2020 presidential election candidate
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, speaker, and political activist. She began her professional career as a spiritual leader of the Church of Today, a Unity Church in Warren, Michigan. Williamson has written s ...
, former
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
professor and philosopher
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...
,
Sanders 2020 co-chair Nina Turner
Nina Hudson Turner ( Hudson; born December 7, 1967) is an American politician and television personality. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she was a Cleveland City Council member from 2006 to 2008 and a member ...
, former Minnesota governor
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...
, comedian/political commentator/satirist
Jimmy Dore
James Patrick Anthony Dore (born July 26, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, podcaster and YouTube personality. He is the host of '' The Jimmy Dore Show'', a comedic political talk show on YouTube.
Dore started as a ...
, journalist
Chris Hedges
Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, author, commentator and Presbyterian minister.
In his early career, Hedges worked as a freelance war correspondent in Central America for ''The Christian Science Monit ...
and podcaster Ryan Knight.
The convention's purpose was to "vote on forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence,"
a measure that was approved by 99% of those viewing the convention online.
While many speakers expressed distaste for the candidates in the 2020 presidential election, the party did not contest the election.
Brana said that their goal was "to form a party beginning in 2021, to run in the midterms in 2022 and, perhaps, to run a presidential candidate in 2024."
In December 2020, the first People's Party state organization was registered in
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
.
According to
Michael Sylvester, the party will focus on pushing congressional officials into supporting a floor vote for
Medicare for All
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...
.
In September 2021, the People's Party gained ballot access in Florida, the first state where it has done so.
In February 2022, Brana was accused of
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
by Zana Day, former MPP executive director,
which was corroborated by coworker
Paula Jean Swearengin. Brana denied these claims, calling them "false and politically motivated," and accused other MPP board members of a "liberal takeover attempt." As a result, he forced out several MPP board members.
Election results
PP has never run its own candidates. PP has endorsed two existing candidates' campaigns.
Presidential elections
On June 5, 2023,
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...
announced his candidacy for
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
with the People's Party, becoming the first person to run for office under the People's Party banner.
Due to the party's controversies and lack of ballot access, West was challenged and criticized by some progressive activists for associating himself with the group. Some progressives called for West to work instead with the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
, which has run presidential candidates for decades and has much larger ballot access.
At the same time, some
Democrats feared that, without
ranked-choice voting Ranked-choice voting may be used as a synonym for:
* Ranked voting, a term used for any voting system in which voters are asked to rank candidates in order of preference
* Instant-runoff voting (IRV), a specific ranked voting system with single-wi ...
, a West third-party run might be a "
spoiler
Spoiler or Spoilers may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Spoiler (media), something that reveals significant plot elements
* The Spoiler, DC Comics superheroine Stephanie Brown
Film and television
* ''Spoiler'' (film), 1998 American ...
", diverting
swing state
In United States politics, a swing state (also known as battleground state, toss-up state, or purple state) is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often refe ...
votes from the presumptive front-runner,
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
, in favor of the
2024 Republican nominee. On June 14, West announced that he was instead seeking the endorsement of the Green Party. West later changed his affiliation once again to
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
.
In April 2023, PP encouraged
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist serving as the 26th United States secretary of heal ...
to run as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
"outside of the corrupt duopoly". In October, Brana began working for Kennedy's
presidential campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...
. As of May 2024, Brana serves as Kennedy's "ballot access director". In August, Kennedy suspended his campaign and endorsed
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
.
Congressional elections
Before the
2022 United States midterm elections, the People's Party announced that it was "aiming to run a dozen or more federal races, including a seat or two in the U.S. Senate."
The party, ultimately, did not run any candidates in the 2022 elections.
Statewide elections
See also
*
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
*
People's Party (United States, 1892)
*
People's Party (United States, 1971)
The People's Party was a political party in the United States, founded in 1971 by various individuals and state and local political parties, including the Peace and Freedom Party, Commongood People's Party, Country People's Caucus, Human Rights P ...
*
Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...
*
Socialist Alternative (United States)
Socialist Alternative (SAlt or SA) is a Trotskyist political party in the United States. SAlt formed as Labor Militant in 1986, when members of the Committee for a Workers' International created a US branch.
SAlt describes itself as a revol ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
People's Partyon
Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...
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