The executive producer of the 2014 Netflix documentary “Mitt,” about former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has vowed to fund a new ballot-access project aimed at luring a third-party candidate into challenging Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
John Kingston, a deep-pocketed conservative donor from Massachusetts, unveiled the Better for America project on Tuesday. The independent group bills itself as a “gathering place” for Americans who are dissatisfied with the presidential nominees of both major political parties.
Kingston has teamed up with Republican pollster Joel Searby, attorney Mohommad Jazil and ballot-access specialist Matthew Sawyer.
Searby belongs to the Florida-based firm Data Targeting, which released a poll last month showing 55 percent of Americans would like to see an independent presidential ticket in 2016, while Jazil and Sawyer were both involved in efforts to draft retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to launch a third-party bid.
“At a time of widespread dissatisfaction and division in America, our broken political parties have offered the worst examples of failed leadership in our history — candidates characterized by corruption, cronyism and illegal and manifestly racist behavior,” Kingston said in a statement.
Kingston, who will serve as chairman of Better for America, claimed the group will “ensure a ballot pathway for an independent candidate who demonstrates honor, lives with integrity, will unite a divided Americ, and seek the good of all citizens.”
The group believes such a candidate will emerge once it’s been proved they can get on the ballot in most states and have a viable path to securing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
Several states’ ballot access deadlines are this week, but the group could use minor party procedures and legal challenges in states like Texas and North Carolina, where the deadlines have already passed, to get a new party on the ballot without an actual candidate.
“We have built a dedicated, experienced team with expertise in legal, political, grassroots, digital, communications and other fields that we’ll need to get this job done,” said Better for America Executive Director Anne MacDonald, who served as chief of staff for former first lady Laura Bush. “We are full-speed ahead on getting ballot access readied for a candidate worthy of this great country.”
Kingston was previously involved in efforts led by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol to draft a conservative third-party alternative to keep Trump or Clinton from making it to the White House.
Kristol’s most recent recruit, National Review writer David French, announced earlier this month that he would not launch a presidential bid of his own but maintained there was still a “path” to victory for another independent candidate.
