Siphoning off votes from Perry and Bell were two independents: then-controller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and musical comedian Kinky Friedman, who combined for over 30%.

Earlier this week, former Houston mayoral candidate Bill King – an independent whose published work includes a book called “Unapologetically Moderate” – filed documents to start a new political party called the Serve America Movement Party, which aims to capture the types of voters who opted against major party candidates in 2006.

The new party, abbreviated SAM, typically targets moderates who believe the Democratic and Republican parties have gone too far both ways, but have no choice but to choose a side in each electoral cycle as part of the campaign. two-party system firmly anchored in the country.

“Even in 2006 when we gave them the alternative, the Texans said, you know, I’d like something a little different than what we did,” King said. “I mean, you think how much worse it is now than it was back then.”

King, who is party chairman, formed the organization as a branch of the National SAM Party, which formed in 2017 and has also settled in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania.

He said the time was particularly ripe for a moderate third-party option after this year’s legislative session, which saw lawmakers – in response to February’s blackouts – pass legislation that experts say does not fully address the underlying problems of the state network. Already, the Texas grid operator has urged residents to reduce their electricity use due to the high number of power plant outages.

“This legislative session, they couldn’t have done me a greater service in what I’m trying to do,” King said. “Everyone shakes their heads at this.”

For now, the party is still in the early stages, which includes recruiting candidates and attracting enough registered voters to join the party – either by signing petitions or attending elections. SAM party local conventions – to qualify for the 2022 ballot. State law requires the party to register approximately 83,000 affiliated voters, or one percent of the votes cast in the 2018 gubernatorial election.

In the months leading up to the party’s launch, King said he met current and former elected officials who have expressed interest in the SAM party, though none have fully committed to running under him in 2022.

One lawmaker, State Representative Lyle Larson, said he has met with King and other party officials and is considering an offer from the SAM Party.

Larson, a Bexar County Republican, did not caucus with Republicans or Democrats in the recent legislative session and spoke in favor of a third party in Texas. He said he has yet to decide whether he wants to get re-elected, run for a statewide job or retire. And he still has to commit to a political party if he runs for office in 2022.

“I think everyone is looking to see what their plan is,” Larson said. “I think something like that appeals to people all over the country. We just have to see over the next few months how it works. But the polarization that’s happening right now in Texas and Washington, people are fed up with it. They want people to work together and they want them to solve their problems, and that’s not what we get. “

The SAM Party platform does not contain the typical political plans that define other major parties, although it has defined positions in several areas. Overall, the party supports the appointment of non-partisan commissions to draw political maps, stricter campaign finance reporting requirements, ranked choice voting, open primaries and policies to expand access. voters.

“SAM has created the only political platform that is not based on a rigid ideology or predetermined political positions. In fact, we completely reject this approach, ”the party said on its website. “Instead, our candidates rely on a process to inform their decisions – and to deliver results that do most good for most people.”

During the party’s rollout, King cited a statewide poll earlier this year that found 52% of voters identify as moderate, slightly conservative or slightly liberal. Yet even if these voters are drawn to the SAM party, they will still have to be convinced that the party itself is viable, or they will continue to vote for one of the party’s two main candidates to avoid feeling like they are. they were wasting their vote, said Elizabeth Simas, professor of political science at the University of Houston.

The SAM Party must create a “selling point beyond ideology,” she said, some of which can be accomplished by putting forward particularly strong candidates.

“The majority of people are probably not as extreme as the elites and the people who end up representing them,” Simas said. “However, with the way our system works, they end up by default with one of the two parties. … It takes a very big and broad movement for a third party to really understand.

The statewide Democratic candidate slate has yet to take shape for the 2022 election, so it’s unclear whether the SAM party will play a significant role in spoiling the chances of either. the other party in the next cycle. Actor Matthew McConaughey has said he plans to run, although it is not clear whether he will run as an independent or under one of the two main parties.

If the SAM party presents a strong gubernatorial candidate, however, Simas said Republicans statewide could face a less secure path to re-election.

“If there was this really attractive and dynamic candidate who was slightly to the right of center, we could see some kind of disruption,” said Simas. “We know the numbers tend to favor Republicans in the state of Texas, but if there is a candidate who can start carving out Republicans’ heads, that raises an issue and we could see a spoiler effect. . “

State Representative Jim Murphy, a Republican from Houston who chairs the Texas House Republican Caucus, said it was natural for party members to disagree sometimes, as long as they found common ground on the vast majority of problems. And he rejected the idea that a third is needed for moderate conservatives who think Texas Republicans have moved too far to the right.

“The party has everything from the quasi-libertarian super-conservatives to your fiscal conservatives,” Murphy said. “They are all part of this effort. And so if anyone is worried that there are people further to his right, I think he doesn’t understand what we agree on. Whether it’s the rule of law, free markets, personal accountability, these are things we can all embrace, but to different degrees.

King said he had been “blown away” by the swift response to the SAM Party, including a number of state lawmakers who King said privately told him they were “very frustrated with the way. that they don’t really feel like they’re doing ”in Austin.

“At a minimum, we’ll be on the ballot,” King said. “We have committed the necessary resources to make it happen. If nothing else, it puts us in the game and in the conversation. But if we get the right candidate for the governorship or one of those statewide offices, then pay attention below. “

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