Independence Party of New York
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Independence Party of New York
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|---|---|
 |
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| Chairman | Frank M. MacKay |
| Assembly leader | Fred Thiele |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Ideology |
Non-partisan democracy Populism |
| Political position | Center |
| National affiliation | Independence Party of America (2007–13) |
| New York State Assembly |
1 / 150
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| New York State Senate |
0 / 63
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| New York City Council |
0 / 51
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| Website | |
| independencepartyny.com/ | |
The Independence Party is an affiliate in the U.S. state of New York of the Independence Party of America. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994. 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. As of October 2010, there were 426,005 members statewide. It currently has one member of the New York State Assembly, Fred W. Thiele, Jr.
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 the state to do so. Current New York State election practice for most parties does not normally permit this. However, there is a provision in the law (Election Law §5-210(5)(f)) which indicates that the party can allow non-members to vote in its primaries. The relevant text of the law says, "in order to vote in a primary election of a political party, a voter must enroll in that political party, unless state party rules allow otherwise."
Like other minor parties in New York, the Independence Party sometimes nominates its own candidates and sometimes endorses one of the major party candidates using electoral fusion. The listing of a major-party candidate on the Independence line can be seen as an indication of that candidate's friendliness to centrist views. Jeffrey Graham, the mayor of Watertown and one of the highest ranking elected officials to be a member of the party, describes the party platform as such: "There is no mystery about the disposition of Line C (...) amassing the greatest number of votes to allow the party to remain on that line(.)" (Line C is the line located immediately under those of the Democratic and Republican Parties; the Independence Party held that line in elections held between 1999 and 2010. Ballot position is determined by the number of votes the line gets in the state gubernatorial election.)
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