Former Salt Lake City mayor announces plan for new major political party
Mar 26, 2021, 5:25 PM
Rocky Anderson speaking with KSL-TV. Photo Courtesy of KSL-TV.
SALT LAKE CITY — When Ross Carl “Rocky” Anderson was Salt Lake City’s Mayor he was a Democrat in the early 2000s, but he left the party in 2011. Since then he’s been working on new ideas. Anderson sat down with KSL-TV, and says it’s time for a third political party: The Justice Party.
He said he thinks people need to be nicer to each other and has a political sign in his front yard saying, “Make America Kind Again.”
Anderson creates Justice Party
“We don’t need this nastiness. We don’t need name-calling,” Anderson said. “We don’t need the pettiness that we’ve seen.”
He said people are disenfranchised by the two main political parties and he wants to be a part of a new major national party.
Anderson thinks there is a lot of division in the country and believes both parties blame each other.
“We all know there’s a better way,” he said.
More about the Justice Party
The Justice Party is about giving people another choice.
“That is exactly what the Justice Party is about. We don’t want to be just another little sliver irrelevant party,” Anderson said. “We’re going to give it everything we have. I’m not getting paid. I work every single day, oftentimes at night. I believe in this.”
Anderson is one of the creators of the Justice Party, running as a presidential candidate in 2012.
Renewed conviction to create the party
Anderson said after nearly 10 years, he feels more strongly than ever it’s time for a major third party and has a renewed interest in making that happen.
“We are driven by the interests of the people of this country and we stand, very largely, for the same kinds of things that the majority of the people in this country want,” he said.
Problems they hope the new party will solve
Anderson said some of the Justice Party platform is affordable and equal education, universal healthcare and a strong middle class through balanced government budgets and fair taxes.
“We want to get away from reckless spending, which both these parties have been guilty of,” he said.
He recognizes it won’t be easy building the party to a point of being a contender with the other two established parties, but he feels the message will resonate with the voters.
“Those of us involved in the Justice Party now are willing to do everything we can,” he said.
What’s next
The Justice Party has a board of directors but does not have any candidates yet. They hope to recruit candidates, especially young people they feel aren’t represented.
