Independence Party of New York
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2008) |
Independence Party of New York | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Vacant since resignation of Frank Mackay |
Founded | 1991 |
Membership (November 2020) | 481,530[1] |
Ideology | Populism Big tent |
Political position | Center |
National affiliation | None (formerly Alliance Party) |
Seats in the U.S. Senate | 0 / 2 |
Seats in the U.S. House | 0 / 27 |
Elected statewide offices | 0 / 4 |
New York State Senate | 0 / 63 |
New York State Assembly | 0 / 150 |
New York City Council | 0 / 51 |
Website | |
independencepartyny.com | |
The Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991 by Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver and acquired ballot status in 1994. They lost their ballot status in 2020 under a change in the New York state election law that required at least 130,000 votes on the party line every two years.[2][3] Although often associated with Ross Perot, as the party came to prominence in the wake of Perot's 1992 presidential campaign, it was created prior to Perot's run. In 2020, it affiliated with the Alliance Party, but disaffiliated in 2021.[4] It used to have one elected member of the New York State Assembly, Fred Thiele, until Thiele switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party in 2022.[5] On December 9, 2022, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed S1851A, banning the use of the words "Independent" and "Independence" from use in political party names in New York state.[6]
History
Founding
The Independence Party was founded in 1991 by a
Governor of New York
In the elections for
President
In the 2000 elections, Fred Newman initially backed Reform presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, but then he switched to Natural Law Party candidate John Hagelin. This resulted from squabbles between Newman's faction and the Buchanan campaign. The Independence Party chose Hagelin as the nominee over Ralph Nader.[11]
U.S. Senate
Initially, the Independence Party considered New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani for its U.S. Senate nomination, but when he declined to run, the party ended up endorsing party member and Watertown mayor Jeff Graham against Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rick Lazio.
Mayor of New York City
In 2001 the Independence Party endorsed
The following year, the New York City Industrial Development Agency (with agreement by the state) approved an $8.7 million bond to help finance a new headquarters for a youth charity controlled by Newman and Lenora Fulani, Newman's chief spokesperson and a prominent Independence Party public figure. The media characterized approval of the bond as a reward from the Mayor as well as an incentive by Governor George Pataki (see below) to obtain Newman and Fulani's support for his re-election campaign.
In 2017, the Independence Party endorsed Paul Massey for mayor of New York City.[12]
Golisano
In 2002, Tom Golisano sought the Independence Party's gubernatorial nomination, for the third time. Incumbent governor Pataki initially won the endorsement of the Newman-influenced Independence Party state convention, with the full support of party Chair Frank MacKay. In May (only four days after final approval of the IDA bond), Golisano, supported by IP founder Laureen Oliver and many of the original founding members, launched a primary challenge. Golisano supporters in the Conservative Party also launched a write-in primary in that party. In September, Golisano lost the Conservative write-in primary, but won narrowly to achieve ballot listing on the Independence line.
During the primary campaign, Golisano charged that Pataki's supporters had filed thousands of fraudulent Independence Party registrations in an attempt to marginalize upstate New York's already limited power in state government and to undermine Golisano's threat to the Republican power base. In the primary battle and in the general election, MacKay and followers of Newman within the IP, including Fulani, supported Pataki. In the November 2002 general election, Golisano retained row C for the Independence party by polling 14% of the popular vote. (Golisano later changed his own party registration to Republican, but finally decided not to seek nomination to succeed retiring Governor Pataki.)
Nader
In 2004 the Independence Party endorsed Ralph Nader in his independent bid for president. Nader also petitioned for an independent line, which he named the Peace and Justice Party. Nader received 84,247 votes on the Independence Party line as opposed to 15,626 on Peace and Justice.[13]
Bloomberg
With the approach of the 2005 elections for municipal offices, Bloomberg gave the Newman-controlled Manhattan branch of the Independence Party $250,000 to fund a phone bank seeking to recruit volunteers for Bloomberg's re-election campaign.[14] On May 28, 2005, the Independence Party endorsed Michael Bloomberg for re-election. Bloomberg won by a wide margin. During the campaign, a consulting outfit controlled by the Newman wing of the party received an additional $180,000 as a Bloomberg campaign subcontractor, according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
In September 2005 the brewing struggle resulted in the party's state executive committee's ousting Fulani and other Newman followers. The catalyst was a media controversy over Fulani's refusal to publicly disavow her now-infamous 1989 statement that Jews are "mass murderers of people of color". Seventy-five percent of all state committee members supported this move.
But Fulani—whose supporters called the purge racist, sexist, McCarthyistic and even antisemitic—continues to be active in the party's Newman-controlled New York City machine. The New York County chairperson Cathy Stewart and party strategist Jacqueline Salit run it on Newman's behalf.[citation needed] The New York City organization remains the most influential of the party's factions because of its small army of hard-working volunteers and the financial support it receives from prominent politicians and Newman's own political and psychotherapy base.
On February 4, 2006, the Executive Committee of the Independence Party of the State of New York dissolved the Interim County Organizations of
On June 4, 2006, State Chairman Frank MacKay started dis-enrollment hearings against Fred Newman, Lenora Fulani, and almost 140 of their followers, in order to seize control of the New York City county organizations. Three different judges, in three different counties, repudiated MacKay’s efforts to dis-enroll Fulani, Newman and the other 140 New York City activists. In July 2006, more than 4,000 New York City Independence Party members created duly constituted County Committees in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, so that the State Chair could not take away local control in New York City.
Spitzer
In November 2006,
In September 2007, activists from the party meeting in White Plains, New York founded the Independence Party of America as a national party. The national party dissolved sometime before 2013.
McCain
In the 2008 presidential election, the Independence Party endorsed John McCain for President and Sarah Palin for Vice President. They received 163,973 votes on the Independence Party line, compared to 170,475 on the Conservative Party line and 2,418,323 on the Republican Party line.
On April 5, 2009, the Independence Party endorsed Michael Bloomberg for Mayor of New York City.[16]
In September 2009, Assemblyman Fred Thiele switched parties from the Republican Party to the Independence Party.
Investigation
On February 18, 2011, the Independence Party's assets were frozen as a result of an investigation into the theft of $1.2 million from the campaign of Michael Bloomberg, which ended up in the Independence Party's accounts.[17] Fred Newman died on July 3 of that year.[18]
Johnson
The Independence Party endorsed
Pierce
The Independence Party endorsed entrepreneur and independent candidate Brock Pierce in the 2020 presidential election.[22]
Mayor of Syracuse
Ben Walsh, despite coming from a family of prominent Republicans refused to affiliate with the Republican Party when he turned eighteen and, when he chose to run for Mayor of Syracuse in 2017, did so on two minor party lines, the Independence Party of New York and Reform Party of New York State; in what was generally seen as an upset, Ben Walsh defeated Democratic Party front runner Juanita Perez Williams.[23]
Andrew Cuomo
Democrat
Alliance Party
The Independence Party was affiliated with the Alliance Party in 2020.[24][25] In 2021, both the Alliance Party and the Independence Party agreed to disaffiliation, but stated that they still intend to work with each other.[4]
Platform and candidates
The Independence Party's platform is somewhat ambiguous. The party itself is designed to draw independent voters and allows non-affiliated voters to vote in its primary elections, the only significant party in New York State to do so.
Like other
During each gubernatorial election, the votes received by each party determine the order in which the parties will be listed on all state ballots for the next four years. The Independence Party placed fourth in 1994 with its own candidate, Tom Golisano to Row D, and moved up to third in 1998 and 2002, again with Golisano to achieve Row C. In 2006, the Independence Party endorsed Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer, and retained its place as the top minor party-Row C. Democrat Andrew Cuomo won the party's nomination for governor in 2010. However, Cuomo drew less than 140,000 votes on the Independence line (compared to the 190,000 Spitzer drew in 2006), which resulted in the Independence Party falling to Line E as of 2011 behind the Conservative Party and the Working Families Party.[27][28][29] It fell to Line F in the 2014 gubernatorial election, garnering less than 80,000 votes and falling behind the Green Party.
In 2016, in response to a change in New York state law, the Independence Party allied itself with the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) of the New York State Senate, which allows the IDC to set up a caucus campaign committee.[30] The state senate's Republican conference is a major contributor to the Independence Party's coffers, and numerous Independence Party operatives have official jobs on Republican state senators' payrolls.[31]
Leadership
The
Name | Tenure | Hometown |
---|---|---|
Laureen A. Oliver | 1991–1996 | Rochester |
Jack R. Essenberg | 1996 – February 2000 April–May 2000[34] |
Miller Place |
Frank M. MacKay | February–April 2000[34] May 2000[34] – January 2022 |
Rocky Point |
Power struggles
The party has seen several major internal struggles. In 1996, the founding chair, Laureen Oliver, declined to run again as state chair and went on to be the party's state secretary. She was succeeded by
In 2003, members of the Republican Party successfully hijacked the
Since the summer of 2005, the party has had an internal factional struggle between libertarians in much of New York and
Jefferson County dissolved its party committee in 2010. The nine committee members split their allegiances between the Anti-Prohibition Party and Taxpayers Party for the 2010 elections; neither achieved automatic ballot access. The Nassau County committee was forcibly dissolved in February 2011 after MacKay seized control over the party's operations from Bobby Kalotee.[36]
Demise
In 2022, the Independence Party of New York attempted to regain ballot access by supporting Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor. A petition was filed with the New York State Board of Elections, with the Republican slate seeking to restore the Independence Party line.[37] On July 14, 2022, the Board of Elections denied the petitions submitted by the Zeldin campaign, due to contested signatures.[38][39]
In December 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation banning the use of the words "independent" and "independence" in party names.[40][6]
Voter registration
New York:
Year | RV |
---|---|
1996 | 70,114 |
1997 | 92,625 |
1998 | 122,172 |
1999 | 147,545 |
2000 | 172,471 |
2001 | 202,550 |
2002 | 217,930 |
2003 | 263,803 |
2004 | 280,532 |
2005 | 328,752 |
2006 | 339,382 |
2007 | 336,847 |
2008 | 355,934 |
2009 | 400,178 |
2010 | 413,855 |
2011 | 425,891 |
2012 | 447,170 |
2013 | 475,123 |
2014 | 482,356 |
2015 | 475,276 |
2016 | 475,566 |
2017 | 479,212 |
2018 | 481,831 |
2019 | 485,037 |
2020 | 483,870 |
See also
- Independence Party of America
- United States Independence Party(also known as the Independence League; active in New York politics in the early 20th century)
References
- ^ "Enrollment by County". Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ^ "Only two minor parties in New York will keep their ballot access". November 4, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ Winger, Richard (December 3, 2021). "New York Libertarian and Green Parties file Reply Brief in Ballot Access Case in Second Circuit". Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ a b Saturn, William (2021-05-31). "Alliance Party May 2021 Newsletter". Independent Political Report. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ^ "Suffolk County Board of Elections Petition Log" (PDF). Suffolk County Board of Elections. 23 May 2022. p. 12. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ a b "NY State Senate Bill S1851A". 16 May 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
- ^ "About the Reform Party". The Reform Party National Committee. Retrieved February 6, 2013.[failed verification]
- ^ "Certified Results from the November 6, 2018 General Election for Governor and Lt. Governor" (PDF). New York State Board of Elections.
- ^ Winger, Richard, ed. (October 1, 2000). "NEW YORK INDEPENDENCE PICKS HAGELIN". Ballot Access News. Vol. 16, no. 7. Archived from the original on June 18, 2002. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
- ^ Campanile, Carl (January 6, 2017). "Paul Massey's mayoral bid backed by Independence Party".
- ^ Trandahl, Jeff (June 7, 2005). "STATISTICS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 2, 2004". U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ^ "Mayor hires Indys to hunt volunteers". New York Daily News. 2005-01-05. Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
- ^ Independence Party of the State of New York Executive Committee (February 4, 2006), Resolution, Colonie, N.Y., retrieved December 16, 2006
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Santos, Fernanda (April 5, 2009). "Bloomberg Is Endorsed by Independence Party". The New York Times.
- ^ Seifman, David (2011-02-18). "DA raps Indie Party in $1M Mike-elex theft". New York Post.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (July 9, 2011). "Fred Newman, Writer and Political Figure, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
- ^ "NYS Independence Party backs Gary Johnson for president". New York Daily News.
- ^ "Trump officially joins Reform Party". CNN. October 25, 1999. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
- ^ "NYS Board of Elections President and Vice-President Election Returns" (PDF). Elections.ny.gov. November 8, 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
- ^ "The Independence Party of New York Endorses Brock Pierce for President of the United States". Archived from the original on 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ "Ben Walsh elected Syracuse mayor". 8 November 2017.
- ^ "New York Independence Party Affiliates with the Alliance Party | Ballot Access News". Retrieved 2020-12-06.
- ^ Saturn, William (2021-05-31). "Alliance Party May 2021 Newsletter". Independent Political Report. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ^ Graham, Jeff (2010-05-24). "Indys to pow-wow in Troy for early endorsement in governor's race". Mayor Graham's View. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
- ^ Vielkind, Jimmy (2010-11-03). "Third party ballot shuffle ahead". Albany Times Union. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- ^ Haberman, Maggie (2010-11-03). "Long's good night". The Politico. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- ^ Graham, Jeffrey (2010-11-04). "Senate update and ballot update". Mayor Graham's View. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- ^ Mahoney, Bill (March 9, 2017). "Activists tie IDC to Independence Party, a GOP ally". Politico. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
- ^ Bragg, Chris (March 19, 2017). "Senate GOP gets key Independence Party endorsement, hires many of its officials". Times Union. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
- ^ "As of January 1, 2022, our longtime Chairman, Frank MacKay, resigned to focus on other ventures".
- ^ "DIRECTORY OF U.S. POLITICAL PARTIES". Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Who's in Charge? (with A June 1st Update)". Independence Party of New York. June 1, 2000. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ^ Miller, Rick (August 8, 2018). "Cattaraugus County Conservative chair: FBI to become involved in GOP takeover allegations". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ^ Brand, Rick (February 23, 2011). "Nassau Independence Party loses chairman". Newsday. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "NYSBOE Public Reporting System : Who Filed". publicreporting.elections.ny.gov.
- ^ Lewis, Rebecca (July 7, 2022). "New York's true two-person race for governor". City & State. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
- ^ Solomon, Joshua (July 14, 2022). "BOE boots Zeldin off Independence Party line for invalid signatures". Times Union. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ^ "New York moves to ban 'independence' from party ballot lines to reduce confusion". Spectrum News. December 16, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2023.