Early this year, the Forward Party in Virginia was granted ballot recognition by the Commonwealth of Virginia.  That means that Forward-nominated candidates for non-local offices across the state (General Assembly, Congress, Governor, etc.) can have their names listed on ballots along with our "Forward Party" label.  Additionally, the nomination by the Forward Party can also impact the order that a candidate's name appears on a ballot in some local races.

As part of the process to gain ballot recognition, a State Committee (aka Executive Committee) was established for the Forward Party in Virginia.  This Committee was established with an initial membership of 11 members, with each member corresponding with one of Virginia's 11 Congressional districts.  Each Committee member represents the Congressional district within which they reside.

However, since the beginning of the year, over half of the Committee membership (six members) has had to step aside for a variety of professional and personal reasons.  Thus, we have six vacancies that we need to fill in a timely but deliberative manner to restore the Committee to its full roster of Congressional districts.  Furthermore, we are preparing to expand the Committee in the near future beyond only one member per Congressional district.

We all can contribute to this process to ensure that our Committee represents Virginians and is ready to take the Forward Party in Virginia to the next stages of growth.  The currently active members of the State Committee of the Forward Party in Virginia represent Congressional districts 1, 6, 8, 10, and 11.  There are six Committee vacancies, one each for Congressional districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9.  So, how can you help?

Firstly, if you are interested in being considered for a seat on the State Committee of the Forward Party in Virginia (either filling a vacancy or being part of the expansion), please nominate yourself (apply) via this form or click the apply now button.

Before filling out the form, confirm you meet the following criteria

1. You live within the Congressional district that corresponds with the State Committee seat for which you are applying (check your district here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative).
2. You are passionate about reforming American politics and are in alignment with the Forward Party's values, as stated here.
3. You are able to make the necessary commitment of time to engage in Committee meetings. That commitment should include attending ALMOST ALL of the committee's meetings (not just a majority), which include regular monthly meetings plus additional special meetings, scheduled as necessary, to address issues such as political candidate nominations, vacancies on the Committee, etc.  Currently, the regularly scheduled monthly meetings generally occur via videoconferencing on the second Wednesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.  Please do not apply for the State Committee if you are not both WILLING and ABLE to make the commitment necessary to serve on the Committee.  While we realize that it is impossible to know all schedules ahead of time, do not apply if you cannot be generally flexible with your schedule.  We appreciate good intentions, but we need those who are actually able to serve.  The Committee has a high quorum requirement of 80% attendance for it to make official decisions.  This helps ensure that the Committee's actions have widespread support, but it also requires widespread participation.

Secondly, we welcome your participation in online forums that we will host for each of Virginia's 11 Congressional districts once we have received nominations for that Congressional district.  These will be forums where residents of each Congressional district can learn about the nominees from their Congressional district and offer recommendations for the consideration of the State Committee.  The initial set of meetings will focus on the districts for which there are vacancies on the Committee (districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9).  However, once the Committee has restored its membership to have a member from each of Virginia's 11 Congressional districts, consideration will begin for the expansion of the Committee with additional members from each Congressional district.  At that time, online forums will be held for the consideration of nominees for other Congressional districts.

To participate in either of these activities (nomination for a seat on the Committee and/or participation in a Congressional district forum), there are some administrative criteria that you must have met.

1. You must have signed up for the Virginia Community on the Forward Party website at www.forwardparty.com/virginia. If you have already done so, great.  If not, please do so.
2. You must have signed up to be a volunteer and agreed to the pledge (code of conduct). If you have already done so, great.  If not, please do so.  To do that, log into your account at the www.forwardparty.com website.  Then, in the top-right corner of the page, click on the icon for your account.  This will display a pop-up that should include "Your Dashboard" as one of the buttons.  Click "Your Dashboard".  You then should see buttons related to volunteering and/or signing a volunteer pledge (code of conduct).  Please do both of those things so that you are property registered with the Forward Party as a volunteer.
3. You must have provided your current complete home address, phone number, and email address in your profile on the www.forwardparty.com website. For many of you, you already have, but please be sure that your information is accurate, and if you have not provided that information, please do so.

Thank you for your help in building a robust leadership for the Forward Party in Virginia.  We greatly appreciate your efforts.

However, if you are not able to commit to helping with this process, there may be other ways in which you can be involved with the Forward Party in Virginia, and we would be happy to talk with you about them.  Please just reach out at [email protected], and keep an eye out in your email and on our website (www.forwardparty.com/virginia) for additional engagement opportunities.