Forward Party Launches New Mexico Chapter after Open Primaries Success

Someone putting on a i voted sticker.
Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash. Unplash+ license obtained by author.
Published: 16 Apr, 2025
Updated: 18 Jun, 2025
2 min read

CORRALES, N.M. - A new party launched Tuesday in New Mexico following the passage of open primaries legislation in the state. The Forward Party, which advocates for election reforms like open primaries, is seeking 3,500 signatures to gain minor party status.

READ MORE:  New Mexico Has Opened Its Primaries to Independent Voters

The New Mexico chapter of the Forward Party officially launched at an event in Corrales. It is chaired by Bob Perls, a former state representative and founder of New Mexico Open Elections, which worked since 2015 to give independent voters access to taxpayer-funded primary elections.

The group's commitment paid off in the 2025 legislative session with SB 16, a semi-open primary bill that requires registered party members to vote in their respective party's primary but allows more than 330,000 independent voters to pick a major party ballot on primary election day.

Perls explained at the Corrales event that the Forward Party will focus on these types of improvements to the democratic process, which also includes ending partisan gerrymandering, campaign finance reform, and voting methods that will empower voters in competitive districts.

“If you look at what is the root cause of hyper-partisanship and political polarization in this country, you can trace a lot of it to how we elect, district and finance candidates,” Perls said. 

The party's goal is to obtain enough signatures to recruit and endorse candidates in the 2026 election cycle. Perls said that on top of expanding the number of candidates on the ballot, the party will also target Republicans and Democrats who voted to keep a closed primary system

The Forward Party was founded in 2022 by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former Republican New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and Michael Willner -- a former Libertarian. It is a recognized party in 5 states and has 47 elected officials.

The party wants to be a major party nationally by the 2028 presidential election. 

IVP Donate

Related articles

Cartoon image of Cuomo and Adams running into each other with cars.
Adams and Cuomo Power Players Play Chicken With New York Elections
NYC Mayor Eric Adams and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are currently playing a game of chicken with each other – leveraging the city’s electoral system to pressure the other to quit the race. The question is: Who will blink first? Or… are they headed for a collision?...
14 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Elon Musk in front of the US Capitol Building.
7 Things Elon Musk Needs to Do If the America Party Wants to Be More Than a Meme
The World’s Richest Man Will Have to Overcome America’s Toughest Political Obstacles — Here’s What It Will Take to Make His America Party Thrive...
08 Jul, 2025
-
4 min read
Elon Musk
Musk vs The Two Parties: Will the America Party Succeed Where Others Have Failed?
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, and former Director of the Department of Government Efficiency, has officially launched the America Party, framing it as a challenge to what he calls a “one-party system” dominated by wasteful government spending....
07 Jul, 2025
-
5 min read

Latest articles

vote here sign with people standing in line to vote.
Why Are Democrats in DC Failing to Implement an Initiative Passed by 73% of Voters?
Back in November, DC voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 83, a measure that called for semi-open primaries and ranked choice voting (RCV) in all city elections. The problem – the DC City Council has yet to fully fund it....
15 Jul, 2025
-
4 min read
Cartoon image of Cuomo and Adams running into each other with cars.
Adams and Cuomo Power Players Play Chicken With New York Elections
NYC Mayor Eric Adams and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are currently playing a game of chicken with each other – leveraging the city’s electoral system to pressure the other to quit the race. The question is: Who will blink first? Or… are they headed for a collision?...
14 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Open Primary NYC
5 Influential Forces in NYC that Threaten the Success of Open Primaries
New York City’s Charter Revision Commission (CRC) is considering a proposal to adopt a nonpartisan “Top Two” open primary system, which would allow the city’s 1.1 million independent voters to cast a ballot in primary elections they pay for....
14 Jul, 2025
-
13 min read