On March 17, some of the candidates for Governor of New York debated each other. One of them, former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra, said during the debate that he is changing his registration from Republican to Reform. Although it is common for New York’s “fusion parties” to nominate high-profile candidates once in a while, typically those candidates remain registered in one of the major parties. For instance, James Buckley, elected to the U.S. Senate on the Conservative line in 1970, nevertheless kept his registration in the Republican Party. Thanks to Frank Morano for this news.

Erie County contains Buffalo. The Reform Party expects to nominate Giambra for Governor at its September 2018 primary.