The Liberal Party’s web page, www.liberalparty.org, says it is circulating a petition to be on the New York ballot for the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The gubernatorial candidate is Edward R. Culvert. Thanks to Wiliam Stevenson for this news. The petition deadline is August 17. See here.
I assume the candidate is the African American social
scientist and media activist named Edward Culvert. Good
luck to him, but to reestablish its status as a ballot-
qualified party for the future the party would need to
take 50,000 votes by cross-endorsing the Democratic
nominee. The Working Families Party has coopted the
ideological space once held by the Liberals, and even
WFP is sweating out whether Andrew Cuomo will eventually
accept its cross-endorsement.
Oops. I should have read the LP petition document before writing. But I see I was right about the identity of the gubernatorial candidate.
They’ll never make it. New York State doesn’t even keep track of their enrollment anymore. I doubt they make the ballot.
I’m not a Liberal or even a liberal. Still, I’d love to see the Liberal Party of New York State obtain ballot position again. This party has such a rich heritage. So sad if it dies and fades away.
The Liberal Party of New York State set the example, of which other 3rd parties throughout the United States had attempted to follow in the states they were organized and active in, would have experienced some of the same “victories” the Liberal Party experienced.
The Liberal Party understood that most 3rd parties cannot win outright. They must “fuse” or “co-nominate” with the candidate of a major party which most closely agrees with their agenda. They practiced this strategy and it made them a “kingmaker” in New York politics for decades.
I still remember the 1969 Mayoral election in New York City, when Mayor John Lindsay lost the GOP primary for re-nomination, but won the Liberal Party line and won in the November election in a strong 3-way election. Even though not a Liberal or a liberal, I was happy with the results of this election. I still believe today, had John Lindsay remained with the Liberal Party – rather than switching to the Democratic Party – and ran for President in 1972 as a 3rd party Liberal Party nominee, he could have forced the 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern to offer him the VP spot when Senator Eagleton withdrew. Don’t know if the election would have turned out any different, but it would have kept alive Lindsay’s political future.
So I wish the Liberal Party of New York State the best in their attempt to gain ballot position again. But more importantly, I wish other 3rd parties would learn from the lessons the Liberal Party of New York taught.