“Everyone Says”

Everyone says third parties never work. And at first glance, it seems obvious. All the “smart” people “know” that new parties can’t break through. How do they know this? Because that’s what all the “smart” people say.

We don’t agree. But why not? Where’s our evidence that something different is possible?

Our simple argument is that it has worked, and it has worked in Kansas. The time is right for it to happen here again.

Let’s take a closer look.

Acknowledging the Obvious

We understand the skepticism. In the lifetime of every living American, only two national parties, the Republicans and Democrats, have held power. No new party has broken through at the federal level in more than a century. From that vantage point, the idea of a successful new party can sound naive.

But that’s not the whole story. The long drought of new parties is not inevitable. For much of our nation’s first century, new parties regularly formed and reshaped American politics.

When New Parties Did Work

The Founders didn’t intend to create political parties at all. They called them “factions” and feared they would put self-interest above the common good. Still, the system they created, especially the need to win majorities, encouraged shifting coalitions to form two broad parties.

George Washington won the presidency without a party, but by the time he left office, two major factions had emerged: the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Republicans (later Democratic-Republicans), led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

The Federalists eventually faded. The Whigs rose to replace them. By the 1850s, new anti-slavery movements were forming across the country. In the Kansas Territory, the Free State Party (the party we’re named after) formed in 1855. These small parties filled a moral vacuum. They united to form the Republican Party, which quickly replaced the Whigs and reshaped national politics.

New parties succeeded when the old ones failed to meet the moment.

Later, the Populist (or People’s) Party emerged in Kansas in the 1890s in response to debt, monopolies, and inequality. Within a few years, Populists won five of the state’s seven congressional seats, the Kansas House, a U.S. Senate seat, and the governorship.

Their ideas were later absorbed by Democrats and challenged by a new Republican progressive movement. The new parties didn’t last forever, but they changed the course of both major parties.

If that could happen in Kansas then, why not now?

What Changed?

Several 20th-century reforms, meant to improve the system, also made it harder for new parties:

• Direct primaries replaced conventions, empowering activist factions over broad consensus.

• Fusion voting (appearing on multiple party lines) was banned in most states.

• Ballot access laws became more restrictive.

• National media reduced politics to a two-party horse race.

These changes, especially primaries, have had the unintended effect of silencing moderates.

Why Can’t Moderates Change an Existing Party?

The party labels haven’t changed in our lifetimes, but the coalitions inside them have when challenged by new movements. Just ask a moderate Republican who no longer has a political home. Many were pushed out as more conservative voters, many of them former Southern Democrats, moved in and pulled the party to the right.

So why not simply move over to the Democrats? Some have. But many have registered as unaffiliated instead. They aren’t eager to join another party with its own extreme wing, only to end up unwelcome once more. Even longtime moderate Democrats are starting to feel out of place in a party where the loudest voices don’t always reflect the broad middle.

The core problem is structural. In both parties, direct primaries are increasingly dominated by their most ideological factions. Moderates sometimes rally and win, but more often, they’re busy living their lives. They’re not driven by single issues or partisan identity, and as a result, they often sit out primaries where the decisions are really being made.

We believe the sensible center hasn’t disappeared. It’s been shouted down. And that’s why it’s time to build something new. History shows that unrepresented groups have rallied to make changes that people thought would never happen.

Why It Can Work Now

Kansas voters aren’t apathetic. They’re unrepresented. The fastest-growing political identity here is “unaffiliated.” These voters aren’t without beliefs. They’re tired of the drama and the gridlock offered by the two established parties. Many are looking for common-sense leadership. They want competence, decency, and practical solutions.

That’s why the Free State Party is starting local. We’re targeting the Kansas House of Representatives, where change is possible and urgent. There are 125 districts, each with about 15,000 voters. In 2024, 40 percent of House races were uncontested. That’s not democracy, that’s a system protecting itself.

If we flip just five Republican-held seats in 2026, their supermajority ends. That single change would give Kansans a stronger voice on education, health care, taxes, and elections.

We aren’t spoilers. When Republicans and Democrats don’t even bother to run against each other, there’s nothing to spoil. There’s only opportunity.

Why It Matters

Kansas has always been underestimated yet it has often led the way. The Free Staters. The Populists. The 2022 vote to protect reproductive rights. Kansans don’t just complain. They act.

A small shift here could inspire much bigger ones across the country.

We’re not asking people to chase a fantasy. We’re asking them to recognize that change starts somewhere. It starts with someone.

We believe that somewhere is here. And the someone is us.

And we have history on our side: Kansas is often the place where change begins.

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“When anything is going to happen in this country, it happens first in Kansas. Abolition, Prohibition, Populism, the Bull Moose...these things came popping out of Kansas like bats out of hell. Sooner or later other states take up these things, and then Kansas goes on breeding other troubles. Why, no one seems to know.”

William Allen White, Emporia Gazette editorial, 1922