The Working Families Party may run New York Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries for U.S. House in the 10th district in Brooklyn, even if Jeffries doesn’t win the Democratic Party primary for that seat. The incumbent, Congressman Edolphus Towns, has been in Congress since 1983, and is running for re-election. The Working Families Party refused to cross-endorse Towns in 2006, 2008, and 2010, although it didn’t run its own nominee against him either those years. See this story.
They call themselves “the progressive third party in N.Y. state”, but only run Democrats, and carefully selected Republicans, on their ballot line?!? I didn’t think that’s what fusion was for, but I suppose I didn’t think carefully enough.
The largest third party in New York is the Independence Party. There is state party and the New York City Organizations.
The New York City Independence Party set out 18 years ago with a simple idea: to create a new and independent reform movement of New Yorkers from all walks of life. We are a new kind of minor party – genuinely independent, built from the bottom up, and not tied to the Democratic and Republican parties.
The Independence Party has over 100,000 members in New York City. 4,500 of them have joined local county committees in all five boroughs, the governing bodies of the organization. Thousands more sign petitions, volunteer, and play a role in the Independence Party’s many campaigns for political reform.
Partisan politics holds back development in our city. We support political reforms that bring the one million New York City independents into the heart of the political process, such as nonpartisan municipal elections, seating independents on the Board of Elections, separating party interest from the public interest, and making sure that good policy, rather than partisan politics, guides the running of this city.
We have built a new electoral coalition in New York City that took center stage in 2005 when 47% of African Americans and 65% of independents supported our mayoral candidate, Mike Bloomberg, in his re-election bid. We’ve partnered with Mike Bloomberg since 2001, when the votes on our line gave him his first margin of victory. In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg became an independent himself and we believe he has governed our city in a nonpartisan fashion. In 2009 the Independence Party received 150,000 votes on our line for Mayor Bloomberg, a record breaking number for a minor party.
The New York City Independence Party believes in change and community. We need to change the culture of New York politics so that it is grounded in genuine civic debate that includes and empowers all New Yorkers. And it is by building a new community of independents from the bottom up that we can effect that change.
I have been an elected official of this party for 8 years. I will not run in for State Committee 2012, self-imposed term limits. I will still be a member of the County and Executive Committee, representing the members from the mid and upper Eastside of Manhattan.
In 2010, the Independence Party of New York fielded 136 nominees for the legislature, but only 3 of them were individuals who didn’t have either the Democratic or Republican nomination as well.
Even the Working Families and Conservative Parties were more independent of the two major parties than that. In 2010, the Working Families Party had 146 nominees for the legislature, and 9 of them were individuals who didn’t also have the Dem or Rep nomination. Also in 2010, the Conservative Party had 166 nominees for the legislature, and 24 were individuals who didn’t have a Dem or Rep nomination.
The New York Independence Party ought not to nominate any major party nominee for the legislature unless that nominee promises to work for reform (the initiative process, redistricting, more freedom for voters to switch parties, reform of the horrible partisan system for nominating candidates for Justice of the Supreme Court, etc., etc.). But the Independence Party has no such policy, unfortunately, and constantly helps incumbents get re-elected no matter how they behave.
This is why I hate (con)fusion voting. At least the Conservative and Working Families Parties seem to nominate candidates they agree with. The Independence Party, on the other hand, what do they even stand for? They’re a joke!
That is why the NYC Organizations have broken away from the state committee and makes a major effort to maintain oounty committees. As of today, we only can select the NYC Mayor, Public Advocate, and the Comptroller. All other positions, state and federal, are controlled by the state chairman. But we do have the NYC grassroot base to push local issues and GOTV efforts.
A large majority of “Independence” Party registrants in New York believe they’re political independents and NOT members of a political party. At least that’s my experience here in upstate New York. Not one of the three parties discussed here- Working Families, Independence and Conservative- have made any serious effort at broadening the political system to include other parties. They mostly tie themselves to one party or another (with the Independence Party, both at the same time!) and hold on for dear life. And the poor Greens, who have ballot status in New York, mostly exempt themselves from the actual political life of this state.
In NYC we actually work getting people to join and work with us to try to change the system. We hold Politics for the People classes, work the phones, actualy do candidate reviews through a selection process and hold monthly borough and citywide Executive Committee meetings. I represented over 3,000 voters and over my eight years as an elected official, meet most of them at their doors and in their homes, explaining the issues and getting their signatures on petitions.
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