The Our America Initiative was a

501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exe ...

political advocacy committee formed by

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

, the former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician who served as the 29th Governor of

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 ...

from 1995 to 2003. The 501(c)(4) committee was created in December 2009, when Johnson hired strategist Ron Nielson of NSON Opinion Strategy to help organize a 501(c)(4) committee. The two have worked together since 1993, when Nielson ran Johnson's successful gubernatorial campaign. Johnson served as the Honorary Chairman for the Our America Initiative. The focus of the organization is to speak out on issues regarding topics such as government efficiency, lowering taxes, winning the war on drug abuse, protecting civil liberties, revitalizing the economy and promoting entrepreneurship and privatization. The

mission statement A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...

of the Our America Initiative: "OUR America Initiative seeks to broaden the parameters of the public policy debate of current topics in the national arena. We look to enlighten the population about civil liberties, free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values. It is our aim to increase the amount of discussion and involvement regarding all-important issues."

Suit Against Presidential Debate Commission

In 2016, Our America Initiative funded a lawsuit filed by the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(as well as

and

Jill Stein Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and former political candidate. She was the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections and the Green-Rainbow Party's candidat ...

, the eventual presidential nominees for the respective parties) against the

Commission on Presidential Debates The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for U.S. pre ...

; the lawsuit advanced the position that "the exclusion of qualified candidates from the general election presidential debates by the commission violates federal antitrust laws." Judge

Rosemary M. Collyer Rosemary Mayers Collyer (born November 19, 1945) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and a Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. ...

of the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C. rejected the legal challenge, ruling that "Johnson and Stein have no standing to make antitrust and First Amendment challenges to the CPD’s rules (which require a third-party candidate to average 15 percent support in five national polls in the run-up to debates), because the 'Defendants here are private parties.'"

Liberty Tour 2016

During the 2016 election, Our America Initiative sponsored a national tour, "visiting college campuses and other venues across America to raise awareness about third party inclusion in national presidential debates." The tour made stops in 40 states; speakers included Governors

and

Bill Weld William Floyd Weld (born July 31, 1945) is an American attorney, businessman, author, and politician who served as the 68th Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. A Harvard and Oxford graduate, Weld began his career as legal counsel to ...

, Unleash Your Inner Company author John Chisholm,

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition The Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization group of current and former police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals who use their ex ...

executive director and former Baltimore Police Chief Neill Franklin, Free the People's

Matt Kibbe Matthew B. Kibbe () is the President and Chief Community Organizer of Free the People, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting libertarian ideals. Prior to founding Free the People, he was the President of FreedomWorks He also worked as ...

, Republicans

Ed Lopez Eduardo Jesus Lopez-Reyes best known as Ed Lopez (born June 26, 1976) is an American politician and activist for the Republican Party. He previously served as the vice chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus. In 2022, Lopez unsuccessfully ran f ...

and

Liz Mair Elizabeth Mair (born June 9, 1978) is an American political and communications consultant. She has worked as a journalist and commentator. She was the Online Communications Director at the 2008 Republican National Committee and has been a politi ...

, Conscious Capitalism’s Alex McCobin,

Reason Foundation The Reason Foundation is an American libertarian think tank that was founded in 1978. The foundation publishes the magazine ''Reason''. Based in Los Angeles, California, it is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. According to its web site, the f ...

’s David Nott, Foundation for Economic Education’s

Jeffrey Tucker Jeffrey Albert Tucker (; born December 19, 1963) is an American libertarian writer, publisher, entrepreneur and advocate of anarcho-capitalism and Bitcoin. For many years he worked for Ron Paul, the Mises Institute, and Lew Rockwell. Wit ...

, the

Carla Howell Carla Howell (born 1955) is an American politician, small government advocate and activist. She was the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts candidate for Massachusetts State Auditor in 1998, U.S. Senate in 2000, and Governor in 2002. She then serv ...

, former Delaware attorney general and over-criminalization activist Ken Abraham, and author and journalist

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book ''The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...

as well as comedians Jeremy McClellan,

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

’s Travis Irvine, and We the Internet’s Lou Perez.

References

External links

OurAmericaInitiative.com
{{Portal bar, Libertarianism, Politics, United States 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations Gary Johnson Conservative organizations in the United States