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Nancy Ross (politician)

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Nancy Ross
Nancy Ross pictured in about 1984
Born1943 (age 80–81)[1]
OccupationPolitical activist
Years active1977–present
Political partyNew Alliance Party[2]

Nancy Ross (born 1943) is an American political activist associated with the New Alliance Party. She stood as the party's candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1984 United States presidential election and later led the New Alliance–affiliated Rainbow Lobby. As of 2024, she is a board member of Independent Voting.

Early life and electoral politics

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Nancy Ross, a teacher by profession, was a social therapy client and later practitioner.[3] She was elected to New York City's Community School Board No. 3 in 1977.[4][5][a] The success of Ross in the school board election jumpstarted the Newmanite movement's interest in electoral politics and,[3] in 1979, Ross helped found the New Alliance Party.[7]

In 1981 Ross was an unsuccessful candidate for New York City Council and later stood as the New Alliance Party's candidate in the 1982 New York gubernatorial election.[4][8]

In 1984, seven years after her electoral victory in the school board election, she was selected as the New Alliance candidate for Vice President of the United States, running with the party's presidential nominee Dennis L. Serrette.[9] Though Ross only held the second spot on the New Alliance ticket, Serrette would later describe that campaign staff actually reported to Ross who, in turn, reported to Fred Newman.[b]

Later life and post-electoral activism

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Ross later served as executive director of the New Alliance–associated Rainbow Lobby, described in one 1988 newspaper report as "the fastest growing, independent citizens lobby in America".[7][11][c]

In 1992, following the closure of the Rainbow Lobby, Ross co-founded the lobbying firm of Ross and Green with Ann Green.[2] As of 2024, she is a board member of Independent Voting, an umbrella organization of the New Alliance–inspired independent voting movement.[13]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ From the 1970s until the early 2000s, all of New York City's public schools were partially decentralized under the control of dozens of community school boards.[6]
  2. ^ According to Serrette: "it was clear they weren't taking orders from me on this campaign, but they were taking directions from Nancy Ross, who was taking orders from Fred Newman, and that I was a spectator".[10]
  3. ^ According to Mervyn Dymally, critics denounced the organization as politically opportunistic and charged that it had selected its name to imply a connection with Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition, a criticism to which Ross responded "the point is not whether Jesse Jackson supports me, but whether I support Jesse Jackson", while going on to note that she disagreed with Jesse Jackson on a number of issues.[2][12]

References

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  1. ^ "Nancy Ross – Candidate". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. University of Minnesota. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Wohlforth, Tim (2015). On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left. Routledge. p. 248. ISBN 978-1317463634.
  3. ^ a b "The New Alliance". New Statesman. Vol. 5. 1992.
  4. ^ a b Bennetts, Leslie (August 27, 1981). "3 in a Race for Council Stress Different Issues". New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Moore, Keith (May 17, 1977). "Skimpy 7% Turnout in School Board Election". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "New York City's Affinity District (Part 3): Decentralization and the governance context of NYC schools". nyu.edu. New York University. April 30, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Balz, Dan (June 10, 1990). "Group Says 2-Party System in U.S. Contributes to Erosion of Democracy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Geimann, Steve (October 26, 1986). "Cuomo Debate Hits Snag". Buffalo News. United Press International.
  9. ^ Goodman, Walter (October 20, 1984). "Under Various Parties, Presidential Candidate Runs in 33 States". New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  10. ^ Linzer, Lori (1995). A Cult by Any Other Name: The New Alliance Party Dismantled and Reincarnated. Anti-Defamation League. p. 18.
  11. ^ "Rainbow Lobby Opens Montclair Office". Montclair Times. August 18, 1988. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  12. ^ Dymally, Mervyn. "The Rainbow Coalition and The Rainbow Lobby" (PDF). United States House of Representatives. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Board Members". independentvoting.org. Independent Voting. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
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