The New York Conservative Party had its best electoral showing in November 2010, than at any time since 1998, for all levels of federal and state office. Its showing for Governor was the best for the office at the top of the ballot (i.e., President in presidential years and Governor in gubernatorial years) since 1998. Its 2010 gubernatorial showing was 4.99%, for Carl Paladino, who was also the Republican nominee. And the party’s 2010 share of the vote for all the other statewide races was higher than its gubernatorial showing. It polled 5.24% and 5.42% for each of the two U.S. Senate races; 5.44% for Comptroller; and 6.33% for Attorney General. All of its statewide nominees were also Republican nominees.
For U.S. House, the party’s nominees polled 5.96% of the total vote cast in the districts in which the party had nominees. For State Senate, the percentage was 6.68%; for Assembly, 7.64%; for Justice of the Supreme Court, 8.05%. The party ran a nominee in each U.S. House district in 2010, for the first time in its history. It had more legislative nominees this year than at any time since 2002.
In the 2010 U.S. House races, the party nominee was not the same person as the Republican nominee in five districts. In the 23rd district, most commentators believe that the presence of a Conservative Party nominee in that race caused the incumbent Democrat to be re-elected. The vote for the Conservative nominee, Douglas Hoffman, was 10,507 votes, and the margin between the two major party nominees was 1,995 votes.
The party’s low point, in modern times, was 2004, when it polled 2.10% for President, 3.71% for U.S. House in the districts in which it had nominees; 4.20% for State Senate in such districts; 4.03% for Assembly in such districts; and 4.47% for Supreme Court.
So – how soon before the gerrymander monsters in the gerrymander NY legislature wipe out those very bothersome third parties and independents OFF the ballots ???
Part of the changeover to the new 2012 gerrymander districts ???
Early in the year, Conservative Party chair Mike Long was in hot water over his decision to give the Conservative ballot line to Rick Lazio who eventually lost the Republican Primary in September. The ballot line was finally given to Carl Paladino when Lazio dropped out but these results are astounding given where the Conservatives stood in June. They had a “Liberal Republican” nominee against the hard-right conservative Paladino, but in the end the Conservative Party and Mike Long did better than anyone would have thought just months before. And it can’t all be explained by a relativelly low-turnout election. They recaptured third place from the Independence Party, which sank nearly to fifth place (they were only a few thousand votes ahead of the Working Families Party).