Previous Statewide Meetings

2025

September 2025

August 2025

July 2025

June 2025

May 2025

April 2025

March 2025

February 2025

January 2025

2024

December 2024

November 2024

October 2024

September 2024

August 2024

July 2024 (Finish Strong)

June 2024

May 2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

2023

December 2023

November 2023

October 2023

September 2023

August 2023 (Anniversary Town Hall)

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

Bylaws Adopted

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023 (Notes)

January 2023 (Notes)

2022

December 2022 (Notes)

November 2022 (Notes)

Prior to November 2022 there was no interim Secretary & the meetings were not recorded.

This month we discussed running for office. The new litigation to open our primaries in Pennsylvania. The Forward Party's third birthday celebration. Finally we discussed ways to help grow the party.

You can watch the video of the meeting here:

Let US Vote:

Earlier this week, a petition was filed at the State Supreme Court to reverse closed primaries and allow independent voters their right to participate in the election process. A member of our board, Rachel Shanok, is one of the plaintiffs. The Pennsylvania Forward Party is proud to be associated with this effort. The current system perpetuates a legislature that is dis-incentivized from making this change. We support pursuing every avenue to improve representation and produce solutions for all Pennsylvanians.

This petition seeks that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court exercise its King’s Bench power to immediately see the case. Unlike the United States Supreme Court, the high court in Pennsylvania has the option to immediately intervene in any case when there is an issue of high public importance. This power originated from English Common.

You can also view the announcement here: Smerconish

From the Petition:

Petitioner Rachel Shanok is a resident of Ambler, Pennsylvania. She is employed as a physical therapist. In addition to her professional employment, Ms. Shanok is an active member of Forward, a political organization committed to interjecting “new ideas and new debates” into our political discourse. Ms. Shanok is an independent voter for political and community reasons. Ms. Shanok, who was formerly registered as a Democrat, believes that neither the Democratic nor Republican parties as institutions appropriately reflect her political views. Ms. Shanok also believes that party registration requirements have contributed to the hyper partisanship which has infected our political discourse and is particularly corrosive at the local and municipal level, where she feels that her decision to affiliate or not affiliate with a political party may be an obstacle to serving her community, whether elected or appointed.

In 1937, the Legislature enacted sweeping changes in the electoral system. This was the first overhaul of its election system in roughly a century. The 1937 overhaul established the fundamentals of the Election Code as it exists today. Apart from establishing the powers and duties of state and county officials in administering elections, the 1937 overhaul included provisions outlining voter qualifications…There is no indication that the General Assembly considered independent voters, who composed only 3% of the electorate at the time.

[I]ndependent voters are denied any meaningful role in the nominating process. They cannot sign a nominating petition for a candidate seeking the nomination of a political party. They cannot nominate a candidate by an ordinary vote. They cannot nominate a candidate by a write-in vote. The only role independents can play in the nominating process is to sign the petition of an “independent” candidate. By virtue of Section 2812, independent voters have no ability to turn their support for any candidate except an independent candidate into an actual nomination. Under Section 2812, independent voters’ right to vote at the primary stage is not just diluted. It is evaporated.

At the local level, candidates are permitted to cross-file for positions like school director. They can win both the Democratic and Republican nominations for the position. That these candidates can appear on both primary ballots would suggest the intent that these races should be less subject to partisanship and party preference. But independent voters (who are by definition less partisan) cannot vote in these cross-filed primary elections either. By the time independent voters cast their votes in the fall, the election is frequently already over as a practical matter.

The General meeting of the Pennsylvania Forward Party was held on June 16, 2025.

The video can be view here:

https://youtu.be/TnTB0603yFA

The slides of the Meeting can be viewed as a pdf here: Slides

The transcript of the meeting can be downloaded here: Transcript

Key Points:

Our State Chair Christian Fyke is taking a leave of office to run for New Kensington City Treasurer.

At the last leadership meeting, Benjamin Valimont was named Vice-Chair & by virtue of Christian's leave, he is now the Acting Chair of the Party

Jeff Keyser, from March on Harrisburg, gave us an update on their activity

https://www.mohpa.org/

Harrisburg Rank the Coffee Event:

https://www.mohpa.org/events/rank-the-coffee-brew-elementary-coffee-in-harrisburg

Gabe McGuire from the Young Forwardists was named the National Forward Party's volunteer of the month

The deadline to get on the ballot for the November Election is quickly approaching (All signatures must be submitted by August 1)

The National Forward Party is hold an virtual event entitled Run for Office with Forward Party! on June 25, 2025 at 5:30pm

https://home.forwardparty.com/run_for_office_with_forward_party2?utm_campaign=2025_june_call_remind&utm_medium=email&utm_source=forwardparty

We need county leads. If you want to help the Forward Party grow consider becoming a county lead.

Please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more

If you are able, the Pennsylvania Forward Party can't grow without financial support. Right now our donations only cover running our website.

Please donate at:

https://www.paforwardparty.com/donate

The video of January’s General Meeting can be viewed at this link:

https://youtu.be/zMTENxXaG2w

The slides for the meeting can be found here: Slides

This month’s meeting began with a visit from Lucy Caldwell who gave as an overview the National Party’s plan to integrate & support the state chapters this year.

After that we discussed the various democracy reform groups in Pennsylvania & part of the Pro-Democracy Collaborative & the need of our members to attend & participate in their events as well as our own.

From there we talked about our priorities as a state party. You can read more about our priorities here: https://www.paforwardparty.com/priorities

We then turned to running for office with a spotlight on Judge of Elections. The Pennsylvania Forward Party is very interested in these races as they are the front line in defending our democracy.

As important as Judge of Elections is, there are other municipal races that we want to encourage our members to run or recruit for. We talk about the various resources we can direct our candidates to (Country First Academy & The Good Party) as well as the guidance & resources the Forward Party can provide ourselves.

We also highlighted that in many regards running as a third party candidate is easier to get on the ballot than it is with a major party:

• Major Parties only have 3 weeks collect their signatures (February 18 to March 11)
  • All of their circulators must be a member of the party
  • All of their signatures must also be a member of the party
• 3rd parties have from March 12 until August 1^st to collect their signatures
  • Circulators can be from any party & even out of state
  • Signatures must only be members of the district they are running for.

Our first Candidate Committee meeting of the year will also be held on Wednesday January 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM. You can join with this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82977230429

The November 2024 Pennsylvania Forward Party’s General Meeting was held at 8:00 PM on 11/18/2024.

The slide deck of the meeting can be downloaded here: Slide Deck

The recording of the meeting can be viewed here:

https://youtu.be/0qB-RViBr1Y

We hope that you can get involved with our party.

The video of our September General Meeting can be view below:

https://youtu.be/j1xewgY8LBM

One of the most important things we will be doing at the convention, will be voting on 10 proposed revisions to our Bylaws.

This page was made to help you review the proposed changes prior to the convention. If you click on the links, you can review the documents.

You can view these revisions here:

2024 Proposed Revisions

You can view our original Bylaws here:

Original Bylaws

You can also view the bylaws with the proposed revisions here:

Bylaws with Revisions

We hope to see you at the Convention this Saturday.

This year the Pennsylvania Forward Party is running two statewide candidates & a third candidate for a Pennsylvania House seat.

Eric Settle is running for Attorney General. Eric is running as a Forwardist because he believes that the Attorney General should be free from the influences of either of the major parties. Eric’s independent voice would allow the Attorney General’s office to solve our problems and put our citizens first. Learn more about Eric at his website: https://ericsettle4ag.com/

Chris Foster is running for State Treasurer because he wants to break partisan barriers and foster inclusive, forward-thinking governance. He is committed to transparent & efficient accounting of the state’s finances. He believes that every Pennsylvanian deserves to have confidence and trust in their state government. Learn more about Chris at his website: https://chrisfosterforpatreasurer.com/

John Mamatas is running to represent the 32^nd District in the Pennsylvania House in Harrisburg. This district is located in the northeast of Allegheny County. John is running as a Forwardist because, unlike other parties, Forward does not tell candidates how to vote. He believes in our election reforms and will work to ensure that more voices are heard.

In order to get on the ballot, our candidates need to gather a substantial number of signatures prior to Mid-July. We are asking all of our supporters to help us collect these. Regardless of whether you can get hundreds of signatures or only your own: WE. NEED. YOUR. HELP!!!

To do so please download our Nomination Paper HERE. The County information is left blank on this form (The state does not allow people from different counties to sign the same paper). The state also requires that they be printed double sided & on legal sized (8.5 x 14) paper. For more information on the requirements please review our cheat sheet HERE. For the official instructions from the state, click HERE.

As you collect signatures, please contact Secretary Valimont (at [email protected]) if you have any questions & to let him know how many you collected every week.

May 20, 2024

Pennsylvania Forward Party General Meeting

• Due to technical difficulties a video recording of the meeting is not available.

• We welcome Representative Gaydos to the meeting this week where she discussed why the movement behind the Forward Party is so important.

• Convention
  • Our convention is coming up on June 1^st at the Gettysburg Hilton Garden Inn from 10:00 AM thru 6:00 PM
    • The morning will begin with a vote on our State Chair followed by considering changes to our bylaws.
    • The afternoon will include breakout sessions on signature gathering, getting our message out, & election reforms.
    • Our statewide wide candidates will give speeches and be on a panel.
    • We will conclude the day with a happy hour cash bar while Clockwork-Band performs music.
  • The $30 ticket price includes lunch & snacks during our most of our breaks.
  • Please join us for this historic event.

• Candidates—Eric Settle & Chris Foster are the best candidates for the Pennsylvania Attorney General & State Treasurer that are running for any party. But they need a substantial number of signatures to be on the ballot.
  • Our goal is to collect at least 5,000 signatures by Mid-July.
    • As of tonight, we have (977) 979 signatures.
      • Peter Knight reported 2 extra signatures on the call.
    • There are a variety of strategies in collecting these signatures:
      • Canvassing door to door.
      • Attending community festivals & events.
      • Setting up shop in a public park.
    • We want as many of our supporters to help us get to our goals even if it is just printing out a form & getting only the members of your household to sign it.
      • We recommend beginning by asking all of your friends & family to sign the form.

The video of the April 2024 Pennsylvania Forward Party General Meeting can be found here:

https://youtu.be/WZGUmBULWQs

If you are interested in volunteering with a committee, we are always looking help with:

Fundraising: Every Wednesday at 5:00 PM https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82946871563?pwd=WWZVWVJPL2U0eVNwVEpSQUk1a0xkdz09

Communications: Every Thursday at 3:00 PM

https://meet.google.com/fef-aeco-pkg

We still also have our Drop-in calls on Mondays at 11:30 AM

https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Fj%2F81610239956%3Fpwd%3DVEJXdWVJcWRFWHZyQUVwYmtQd201QT09&data=05%7C02%7CRachel.Shanok%40jefferson.edu%7Cefe8d8adb9f14b1a6dc108dc16be3f1e%7C55a89906c710436bbc444c590cb67c4a%7C0%7C0%7C638410253631520363%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ZCyl2YCsR7Xv4Npw5Q0SyUJphOFrugRqOMRAYHs33Kc%3D&reserved=0

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Welcome to the blog of the Pennsylvania Forward Party.

Here we will post our statewide minutes, updates, and other items to communicate with our supporters like you.

To view the videos of our past meetings, please use this link:

https://www.youtube.com/@PAForwardSec

Welcome to our blog
Posted by Benjamin Valimont · March 30, 2024 2:48 PM · 1 reaction

Welcome to the blog of the Pennsylvania Forward Party.

Here we will posts our statewide minutes, updates, and other items to communicate with our supporters like you.

To view the videos of our past meetings, please use this link:

https://www.youtube.com/@PAForwardSec