SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Stephanie Miner's foray into the governor's race Monday came as little surprise. But she's running with a barely known non-partisan outfit based in Denver that left many political observers scratching their heads, wondering, "what's that?"

Miner, a Democrat, will carry the torch of an obscure new political group called the Serve America Movement -- a group of former partisans founded in the wake of the 2016 presidential election.

By coincidence, the group goes by "SAM," which was Miner's moniker while in city hall. Her initials are S.A.M.

In ditching the Democrats, Miner angered local party leaders, who accused her of playing spoiler in the gubernatorial race this fall. They're concerned her candidacy will help Republican Marc Molinaro by taking votes away from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat.

Miner and a spokesman for SAM dismissed those critics and said the group has no partisan bias either way.

Miner is SAM's first candidate, though an official said plans are in the works for more. SAM is seeking ballot access across the nation, starting with New York. A SAM leader described Miner as a "vanguard" and "pioneer" in an article in the New York Times.

But aside from a few paragraphs in the Times on Monday, little has been written or said about SAM. Who is this nascent group backing a former upstate mayor for New York's top job? And how did they decide on Miner as their first candidate?

Who is SAM?

SAM is based in Denver, Colorado, but has members in all 50 states. It was officially founded in April 2017.

Its stated purpose is to "build a new political party for a new American majority." That includes investing in health care, education and infrastructure; using science and facts to guide environmental policy; ending mass incarceration; ensuring fair access to voting and disrupting the "political status quo." It also champions free markets, free trade and fiscal responsibility.

Miner said Monday evening those values align with her own. She's devoted ample time and energy to criticizing top players in both political parties, namely Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo. She's railed against a system she described as "toxic," filled with half-truths and propelled by special interest money.

"I really liked their statement of principles and their values," she said. "It's rare you can look through value statements and say you agree with all of this."

SAM's leadership includes at least three people who worked for President George W. Bush and an executive at Morgan Stanley, one of the nation's largest banks.

CEO and Director Sarah Lenti worked for National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice under Bush. Chairman Scott Muller is former general counsel for the CIA. Chief Strategist Reed Galen worked in Bush's administration and consulted on campaigns for Bush, John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The group's vice chairman, Eric Grossman, is executive vice president at Morgan Stanley. Associate Director Drisana Hughes also worked for Morgan Stanley before joining SAM.

The group also includes former Democrats, like Hagar Chemali, who served in President Barack Obama's administration.

In an interview Monday, Reed, the strategist, said he left the Republican Party during the 2016 presidential election. He said the historic unpopularity of both candidates in that race showed him how badly the country needed other options.

"I would say that everybody associated [with SAM] is a political independent," he said. "We all came to being independents from different directions, but are dedicated to building a new party that is not Republican or Democrat."

In the last year, SAM has raised nearly $1.4 million and spent about $1.2 million, including money on local advertising, polling, consulting and content production, according to quarterly filings with the Internal Revenue Service.

SAM's two top donors are an attorney in Colorado and an investor in New York, according to its most recent IRS filing in March. There are more than 60 individual donors.

Charles R. Wall, a retired lawyer and former general counsel for Philip Morris International, has given the group $912,000. Richard Bennett of B-Fore Capital, a New York investment firm focusing on tech startups, has given $140,000. Bennett is also the signatory on the group's IRS filings.

Other big donors include Grossman, the vice chairman and general counsel for Morgan Stanley, who has given $57,366 and Daniel Simkowitz, head of investment management at Morgan Stanley, who has given $50,000.

Miner's involvement?

Miner said representatives from multiple parties had approached her about running for governor, including Democrats, the Working Families Party, the Reform Party and even messengers from Republicans (whose inquiries she said she didn't entertain).

"There's this uniform sense that the status quo and system was broken," she said.

Then, about two months ago, she got connected with SAM after doing a podcast in New York. Their values aligned, she said, and they began a series of meetings and conversations.

Galen said conversations with Miner began about six weeks ago. The board was swayed by the opinion piece she wrote in the New York Times in 2013, criticizing Andrew Cuomo for refusing to increase state aid to hurting cities like Syracuse. That op-ed sparked the very public rift between the state party's top official (Cuomo) and one of its rising young stars (Miner).

"We had heard the mayor was considering a run and were duly introduced to her," he said. "We listened to her experience as mayor of Syracuse. Obviously the op-ed she wrote was very impactful to us."

One of SAM's top goals in fostering a new party is earning ballot access in states like New York.

If Miner gets 50,000 votes in the general election in November, SAM will get a permanent ballot line in New York for the next four years. There are currently eight parties in New York with ballot access - each needs to get 50,000 votes again this year to keep its line.

Other parties, like the Libertarian Party, are also seeking a ballot line this year. That party is running Larry Sharpe in November's election as it tries for its own line.

Miner said her priorities lie beyond any party affiliation or allegiance.

"As a mayor, I never really asked someone if they were a Democrat or Republican," she said. "You have to solve problems in a fiscally responsible way."

Ties to Republicans?

Locally, and across the state, some Democrats seized an opportunity to link the SAM and Miner to Republicans. Two former Onondaga County Democratic chairs criticized Reed for commentary he wrote in 2015 for Breitbart, a right-wing blog once run by former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.

"Today Stephanie Miner announced she was entering the race for New York's governor and revealed she's doing so with the backing of the Serve America Movement, a group staffed and run by former Bush administration with a history of Republican values," Diane Dwire and Robert Romeo wrote in a letter to syracuse.com. "We Democrats worked to elect Stephanie, and that's why this is incredibly disappointing."

Former Common Council President Van Robinson penned a similar letter, in which he accused Miner of "casting her lot with conservatives and Republicans, and turning her back on her party..."

Both Miner and Galen dismissed such criticism.

Galen said his contributions to Breitbart were three years ago, and were specific to a California primary race. He's also written for left-leaning sites like Mic and Fusion, he said.

He added that many people start off in politics affiliated with one of the two major parties, before migrating to groups like his. All of their members are political independents, he said.

"I've seen some of the stuff about [Miner] playing spoiler or getting a Republican elected," Galen said. "That's knee-jerk and we are not at all surprised. One of the first things we hear is we're going to play spoiler. What are we spoiling? The two options are terrible."

Miner said people should trump partisan interests.

"People have made decisions about conduct based on whether somebody is a Democrat or a Republican, as opposed to whether that conduct is appropriate or not," Miner said. "The Democratic Party can't be outraged at a failure to hold Trump accountable and at the same time be silent on the corruption we're seeing right now."