Liberal Party (New York)

Liberal Party of New York

Chairman	Henry Stern
Spokesperson	Martin I. Hassner
Founder	George Counts
Founded	1944
Split from	Democratic Party
Headquarters	New York City, NY, U.S.
Ideology	Liberalism (American) Social liberalism
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	None
New York State Assembly	0 / 150
New York State Senate	0 / 63
New York City Council	0 / 51
Website
www.liberalparty.org
Politics of New York Political parties Elections

The Liberal Party of New York is a minor American political party that has been active only in the state of New York. Its platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies: it supports the right to abortion, increased spending on education, and universal health care.

The Liberal Party was founded in 1944 by George Counts as an alternative to the American Labor Party, which had been formed earlier as a vehicle for leftists uncomfortable with the Democratic Party support of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Despite enjoying some successes, the American Labor Party was tarred by the perceived influence of communists in its organization, which led David Dubinsky of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Alex Rose of the Hat, Cap and Millinery Workers, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and Ben Davidson to leave in order to found the Liberal Party as an explicitly anti-communist alternative. In the 1944 elections, both the American Labor and Liberal parties supported Roosevelt for President, but by 1948 the two parties diverged, with the Liberals nominating Harry S. Truman and the American Labor Party nominating Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace. Non-Marxist ALP leaders like Dean Alfange helped lead a walkout to the Liberal Party.