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Independence Party of New York

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Independence Party of New York
Founded1991; 34 years ago (1991)
Banned2022; 3 years ago (2022)[1]
IdeologyPopulism
Big tent
Political positionCenter
National affiliationNone
(formerly Alliance Party)

The Independence Party was a populist political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991, and it acquired ballot status in 1994. The party lost its ballot status in 2020 following changes to New York's ballot access requirements. On December 9, 2022, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation banning the use of the words "independent" and "independence" from use in political party names in New York.

History

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Founding

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The Independence Party was founded in 1991 by a Rochester, New York-based, group, later merging for a time with the Bronx-based Independent Fusion Party to form the Independence Fusion Party. The Bronx-based Independent Fusion Party had earlier been active in endorsing Rudy Giuliani in the 1989 mayoral election (and again in 1993), seeking to emulate the City Fusion Party of the Fiorello H. La Guardia era and taking the historic four-leaf clover as its symbol.[2][3] The unexpectedly strong showing of Ross Perot in the 1992 U.S. presidential election raised the profile of political independents in the country and led to centrist political parties rising to prominence in many states. It first achieved ballot status in New York as the "Independence Fusion Party" in 1994, and after that election reverted to just the Independence Party again. The Independence Party was affiliated with the Reform Party of the United States, which was directly founded by Perot in 1995, and broke off from that party in 2000.[4]

1991-2002

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In the elections for Governor of New York in 1994, 1998, and 2002, the Independence Party's candidate was businessman Tom Golisano, whose personal wealth enabled him to mount well-funded campaigns. In the 1994 election, he finished 4th, and 3rd in the 1998 and 2002 elections, far ahead of all other candidates not running on the Democratic or Republican ballot lines. Because Golisano received more than 50,000 votes each time, the party was guaranteed an automatic ballot line for the following four years. It has enjoyed the 4th ballot line after the 1994 election, the third line on the ballot continuously since the end of the 1998 gubernatorial election cycle. Following the 2010 election, the party was in 5th place. Following the 2014 election, it finished in 6th place and was Row F for the following four years. The party endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the 2018 election, receiving 68,713 votes on the Independence Party line.[5][better source needed]

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.[6][clarification needed]

2003-2010

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In 2003, members of the Republican Party successfully took over the Cattaraugus County branch of the Independence Party.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9] 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.

Since the summer of 2005, the party has had an internal factional struggle between libertarians in much of New York and Long Island, and followers of Marxist psychotherapist Fred Newman based in New York City.[citation needed] In September 2005, the brewing struggle resulted in the party's state executive committee's ousting Lenora 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 Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, which had been controlled by Newman and Fulani. The Committee's resolution stated the action was a result of the antisemitism and racism espoused by Fulani and Newman, which are antithetical to the principles of the Independence Party.[10] One week later they attempted to suspend the chair of the Staten Island IP, a member of the Fulani group. The resulting court action allowed the chair to stay in office but also gave the opposing faction the right to make party endorsements for several local offices in the 2006 election. Although the "Newmanites" still control the Manhattan County organization, the recent revolt has probably ended their ability to influence the selection of the party's nominees anywhere in New York State except the borough of Manhattan.

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 disenroll 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.

In November 2006, Eliot Spitzer, running for Governor, received over 190,661 votes on the Independence Party line, more than enough to secure the party's spot on Row "C" for the next four years. Also, 19% of those votes were produced by the New York City organization. Additionally, in 2006, the Independence Party had its first member elected to the New York Legislature with the election of Timothy P. Gordon in the State Assembly, who also ran with the Democratic endorsement.[citation needed]

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.[11]

In September 2009, Assemblyman Fred Thiele switched parties from the Republican Party to the Independence Party.[citation needed]

2011-2021

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The Nassau County committee was dissolved in February 2011 after MacKay seized control over the party's operations from Bobby Kalotee.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14] The State Senate's Republican conference was a major contributor to the Independence Party's coffers, and numerous Independence Party operatives took jobs with Republican state senators.[15]

The Independence Party endorsed Gary Johnson in the 2016 presidential election, cross-endorsing with the Libertarian Party of New York.[16] Notably, the Independence Party endorsed Johnson over Republican Party nominee Donald Trump, who (during his 2000 campaign for the Reform Party nomination) had previously been a member of the Independence Party.[17] Johnson received 119,160 votes on the Independence Party line and 57,438 votes on the Libertarian Party line.[18]

Ben Walsh, despite coming from a family of prominent Republicans, refused to affiliate with the Republican Party. When he ran for mayor of Syracuse in 2017, he did so on two minor party lines: The Independence Party of New York and the Reform Party of New York State line. In what was generally seen as an upset, Walsh defeated Democratic candidate Juanita Perez Williams.[19]

In 2017, the Independence Party endorsed Paul Massey for mayor of New York City.[20]

The Independence Party endorsed entrepreneur and independent candidate Brock Pierce in the 2020 presidential election.[21]

The Independence Party was affiliated with the Alliance Party in 2020.[22][23] In 2021, both the Alliance Party and the Independence Party agreed to disaffiliate, but stated that they still intend to work with each other.[23]

Demise

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In 2020, New York election law was changed to require that political parties receive at least 130,000 votes in a statewide election every two years to maintain ballot status. In the 2020 election, the party failed to achieve that total and lost its ballot status.[24]

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.[25] On July 14, 2022, the Board of Elections denied the petitions submitted by the Zeldin campaign, due to contested signatures.[26][27]

On December 9, 2022, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation banning the use of the words "independent" and "independence" from use in political party names in New York state.[28][29]

Ideology and ballot status

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The Independence Party has been described as a populist,[30] centrist,[31] and "big tent"[32] political party.

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.[33][34] It fell to Line F in the 2014 gubernatorial election, garnering less than 80,000 votes and falling behind the Green Party.

Leadership

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The chairman of the Independence Party of New York was Frank MacKay, also the leader of the party in Suffolk County and National Chairman of the newly formed Independence Party of America; he resigned as of 2022.[35][better source needed]

Chairpersons[citation needed]
Name Tenure Hometown
Laureen A. Oliver 1991–1996 Rochester
Jack R. Essenberg 1996 – February 2000
April–May 2000[36]		 Miller Place
Frank M. MacKay February–April 2000[36]
May 2000[36] – January 2022		 Rocky Point

Voter registration[citation needed]

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "NY bans political parties from using 'independence' or 'independent' in names". 17 December 2022.
  2. ^ Lynn, Frank (1989-08-24). "Giuliani Seeks To Be Nominee Of a New Party". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  3. ^ Firestone, David (1994-10-20). "THE 1994 CAMPAIGN: THE MAYOR; Giuliani Says His Neutrality Is a Deliberate Strategy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  4. ^ "About the Reform Party". The Reform Party National Committee. Retrieved February 6, 2013.[failed verification]
  5. ^ "Certified Results from the November 6, 2018 General Election for Governor and Lt. Governor" (PDF). New York State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Miller, Rick (August 8, 2018). "Cattaraugus County Conservative chair: FBI to become involved in GOP takeover allegations". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ 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)
  11. ^ Santos, Fernanda (April 5, 2009). "Bloomberg Is Endorsed by Independence Party". The New York Times.
  12. ^ Brand, Rick (February 23, 2011). "Nassau Independence Party loses chairman". Newsday. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  13. ^ Seifman, David (2011-02-18). "DA raps Indie Party in $1M Mike-elex theft". New York Post.
  14. ^ Mahoney, Bill (March 9, 2017). "Activists tie IDC to Independence Party, a GOP ally". Politico. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  15. ^ Bragg, Chris (March 19, 2017). "Senate GOP gets key Independence Party endorsement, hires many of its officials". Times Union. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  16. ^ "NYS Independence Party backs Gary Johnson for president". New York Daily News.
  17. ^ "Trump officially joins Reform Party". CNN. October 25, 1999. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  18. ^ "NYS Board of Elections President and Vice-President Election Returns" (PDF). Elections.ny.gov. November 8, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Ben Walsh elected Syracuse mayor". syracuse.com. 8 November 2017.
  20. ^ Campanile, Carl (January 6, 2017). "Paul Massey's mayoral bid backed by Independence Party".
  21. ^ "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.
  22. ^ "New York Independence Party Affiliates with the Alliance Party | Ballot Access News". 3 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  23. ^ a b Saturn, William (2021-05-31). "Alliance Party May 2021 Newsletter". Independent Political Report. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  24. ^ "Only two minor parties in New York will keep their ballot access". cityandstateny.com. November 4, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  25. ^ "NYSBOE Public Reporting System : Who Filed". publicreporting.elections.ny.gov.
  26. ^ Lewis, Rebecca (July 7, 2022). "New York's true two-person race for governor". City & State. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  27. ^ Solomon, Joshua (July 14, 2022). "BOE boots Zeldin off Independence Party line for invalid signatures". Times Union. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  28. ^ "NY State Senate Bill S1851A". 16 May 2022.
  29. ^ Reisman, Nick (December 16, 2022). "New York moves to ban 'independence' from party ballot lines". spectrumlocalnews.com.
  30. ^ McGrath, Ben (November 3, 2018). ""Local Politics Is Nice Politics": Small-Town Concerns and National Implications in New York's Nineteenth District" – via www.newyorker.com.
  31. ^ Cullen, Terence (June 15, 2016). "Independence Party Backs 421a Substitute as Sun Sets on Albany Session". commercialobserver.com.
  32. ^ Mata, William (January 10, 2025). "Was Donald Trump a Democrat? Timeline of US president's chequered political history". The Standard.
  33. ^ Vielkind, Jimmy (2010-11-03). "Third party ballot shuffle ahead". Albany Times Union. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  34. ^ Haberman, Maggie (2010-11-03). "Long's good night". Politico. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  35. ^ "As of January 1, 2022, our longtime Chairman, Frank MacKay, resigned to focus on other ventures". Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  36. ^ a b c "Who's in Charge? (with A June 1st Update)". Independence Party of New York. June 1, 2000. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
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