Both the Working Families Party and the Conservative Party did comparatively well in the November 5, 2013 New York city Mayoral election. The Working Families Party polled 3.95% for its nominee, Bill DeBlasio, who was also the Democratic nominee. This was the highest percentage of the vote the Working Families Party has ever received for Mayor of New York city. Here are the incomplete results for each party in that race.
In 2009, the WFP had polled 2.41% for William C. Thompson, who was also the Democratic nominee. In 2005 the WFP did not run anyone for Mayor. In 2001 the WFP polled 2.20% for Mark Green, who was also the Democratic nominee.
Also in 2013, the Conservative Party did well, compared to the recent past. In 2013 it polled 2.27% for Joe Lhota, who was also the Republican nominee. This was the first time the Conservative Party had cross-endorsed the Republican mayoral nominee since 1985.
In 2009, the Conservative percentage for Mayor, for Stephen Christopher, was 1.56%. In 2005, it was 1.13% for Thomas Ognibene. In 2001, it was .24% for Terrance M. Gray. In 1997 it had no candidate. In 1993 it received .53% for George Marlin. In 1989 it received .51% for Ron Lauder. In 1985, it cross-endorsed the Republican nominee, Diane McGrath, and got 1.99%. In 1981, for its own nominee, John Esposito, it got 4.92%. In 1977, for its own nominee, Barry Farber, it got 4.00%. In 1973, for its own nominee, Mario Biaggi, it got 10.96%. In 1969, it cross-endorsed Republican nominee John Marchi and got 8.91%. Most famously, in 1965, its first Mayoral candidate, William F. Buckley, got 13.35%. Thanks to Mike Drucker for the link to the 2013 returns by party.
Richard, What’s the best the Conservative Party has ever done for NY Gov?
In 1990 the Conservative Party got 20% for Governor.
Working Families Party actively works to defeat the Green Party specifically.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/07/left-third-parties-in-2013/
WFP, WTF?
A good indication occurred in Syracuse, NY where long time Green activist Howie Hawkins, whose previous campaign against an machine Democrat failed by 94 votes, this time went down by a slightly larger margin. The difference did not reflect a lack of support but rather the presence of the Working Families Party, which, as the Syracuse Post Standard reported ”hired paid canvassers and coordinated an intensive get-out-the-vote effort on (Hawkins’s opponent’s) behalf during the past few weeks.”
and
http://www.correntewire.com/working_families_party_democrat_stooges
Their rationale for doing so was pithily summarized by one of the paid WFP out-of-town “organizers” who declared on social media that “A victory for Hawkins tomorrow would be worse for the progressive cause than any other victory for a Right Winger.”
I’m not sure if a party which is an adjunct to a major party and operates by targeting defeat of a third party on behave of and paid by a major party, qualifies as a real third party. They are more of a legal construct by Democrats to disarm other third parties.
I’m surprised the Conservative Party endorsed Joe Lhota. Isn’t he fairly libertarian & in support of same sex marriage?
This really isn’t an indication of how strong these two parties are. The fact is, the fusion laws in New York State give the impression that the parties are a lot more popular, and stronger, than they really are. People want to vote for that candidate, and also want to make a political statement about their ideological leanings, so they vote for the candidate on the third party line. If New York State didn’t allow fusion, and these two parties had to actually run their own candidates, they wouldn’t have gotten this many votes.
I believe that fusion voting actually hurts true third parties in the state as it creates a myriad of small parties that the voter has to wade thru and pushes those true third parties, such as the Libertarians and Greens, down to the bottom of the list. This is because the order of the ballot is determined on how well the party did in the last Governor’s race, and when pseudo third parties list the same name as the Republicans and Democrats, it artificially inflates their numbers bringing them towards the top of the list.
Some day a court with courage will rule that New York must give all candidates an equal chance to appear on the top line. Fifteen states already have that policy.