UNAFFILIATED BUT UNITED: The Washingtonian Model for Leadership in a Divided Age

By Chaz Evanson, Candidate for Governor of Colorado

In the founding era of our Republic, one name towered above all others, not because of power seized, but because of service rendered. General George Washington, the Father of our Country, stood as a singular example of humility, duty, and statesmanship. But one of the most overlooked elements of his legacy is this: George Washington was politically unaffiliated.

He was not a member of any political party. He rejected the divisive temptations of factionalism and warned in his Farewell Address that political parties, though seemingly useful, would become instruments of division, corruption, and despotism. He believed in the sovereignty of the people and the necessity of unity rooted in shared values, not political machinery.

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge… is itself a frightful despotism.” George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

Washington understood what many modern politicians have forgotten: that partisan loyalty can become a tyrant over the public interest. When citizens are reduced to voting by party line, truth becomes secondary to tribalism, and liberty begins to erode under the weight of political gamesmanship.

Like Washington, I have chosen to run for office unaffiliated. I owe allegiance not to a party, but to the Constitution, to the people of Colorado, and to Almighty God. It is time we return to the wisdom of our founders and reassert the principle that public office is a sacred trust, not a partisan conquest.

Scripture confirms this call to something higher. Jesus declared,

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” Matthew 12:25

We cannot preserve our freedoms or rebuild our institutions while we remain enslaved to division. The Apostle Paul admonishes us to reject selfish ambition:

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” Philippians 2:3

That is the heart of servant leadership, not political opportunism. True leadership aligns with the wisdom of heaven:

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” James 3:17

These are not abstract ideals. They are moral imperatives for every leader. Proverbs declares:

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” Proverbs 29:2

Righteous authority does not mean religious tyranny, it means governing with integrity, justice, and humility before God. Washington modeled this. He once said:

“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”

And he lived it. In private prayer, in public speech, and in presidential decision-making, he sought the wisdom of Heaven rather than the favor of men. He feared God more than party bosses. And that fear of God, “the beginning of wisdom” Proverbs 9:10, is exactly what we must recover in this generation.

As I travel across this great state, I meet citizens who are tired, not just tired of politics, but tired of false choices. Tired of being told they must pick between the lesser of two evils. Tired of watching parties grow rich while people grow weary. They long for something different, something truer.

This campaign is not about Left or Right. It is about right and wrong. It is about restoring virtue, reforming law, and protecting liberty. It is about returning power to the people, and glory to God. It is about fulfilling the biblical charge:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

We do not need more politicians. We need watchmen, servants, and shepherds, citizen-leaders who govern with moral clarity and patriotic courage.

Washington chose that path. And by God’s grace, so will I.

Let it be said of our generation that when the parties were at war, we chose the path of principle. That when liberty was faltering, we remembered our foundations. That when our Republic stood at a crossroads, we took the road less traveled, the road of conviction over convenience, and of truth over tribalism.

My name is Chaz Evanson. I am unaffiliated, but I am not alone. I stand with the people of Colorado. I stand with the Constitution. And I stand, as Washington did, for a future rooted not in partisanship, but in providence.

Let us return to the wisdom of our founders. Let us walk in the righteousness of God. Let us unite, not around a party, but around the eternal principles that made us free.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” II Corinthians 3:17