Petitions filed
Petitions were filed today. A major party congressional candidate in NY generally needs 1250 signatures. A tremendous number of volunteers managed to get nearly 6000 signatures for me across the 7 counties in the congressional district. The Town of Colonie really stood out.
I was also very fortunate to get help in the process from Barbara Davis at the Albany GOP and from friends Cathy and Todd, who are very knowledgeable about the finer points of the process.
Thanks to all for their help.
This was a somewhat interesting experience. Last time I filed on the first day of filing, and the office was not busy at all. This time I filed on the last day of filing, and there was a lot of activity. It looked like a lot of professional consultant types were reviewing the petiitions that had been filed.
For those who are unaware, New York State has very complex laws that make it difficult for candidates to get on the ballot. I've heard that half of all election law cases in the US take place in New York State. Those who are chosen by the major parties have access to free advice from people who really know the system. Third-party candidates and "independent" candidates have a much tougher time.
An example of the problem is the effort to get Libertarian candidates on the ballot. I've been endorsed by the LP, but we would need 3500 signatures to get on the ballot on that line. At 10 signatures an hour, that would be 350 hours of work. Even if we managed to be efficient and get signatures at events, it would still take 70 hours. It's hard to find that much help for a minor line like the LP.
That's where the major parties have an advantage -- when functioning well (like the GOP in Colonie or the Dems in Albany), they have a lot of volunteers. The lesser parties have an advantage if they get recognized status. Currently this includes the Conservative Party, the Independence Party, and the Working Families Party. They only have to get 5% of the number of people enrolled in their party in the district. So if there's only 1000 enrolled in the WFP, they only need 50 signatures.
This is why some in the LP want to endorse a celebrity or major party candidate for Governor, as the Greens used to do with Grandpa Al (who played Grandpa on the Muensters TV show). The perception is that this would get 50,000 votes for the LP's Governor candidate, and that would make the party recognized statewide, so petitioning would be much easier in the future. Didn't work this year as the LP picked William Weld, and he dropped out.
I was also very fortunate to get help in the process from Barbara Davis at the Albany GOP and from friends Cathy and Todd, who are very knowledgeable about the finer points of the process.
Thanks to all for their help.
This was a somewhat interesting experience. Last time I filed on the first day of filing, and the office was not busy at all. This time I filed on the last day of filing, and there was a lot of activity. It looked like a lot of professional consultant types were reviewing the petiitions that had been filed.
For those who are unaware, New York State has very complex laws that make it difficult for candidates to get on the ballot. I've heard that half of all election law cases in the US take place in New York State. Those who are chosen by the major parties have access to free advice from people who really know the system. Third-party candidates and "independent" candidates have a much tougher time.
An example of the problem is the effort to get Libertarian candidates on the ballot. I've been endorsed by the LP, but we would need 3500 signatures to get on the ballot on that line. At 10 signatures an hour, that would be 350 hours of work. Even if we managed to be efficient and get signatures at events, it would still take 70 hours. It's hard to find that much help for a minor line like the LP.
That's where the major parties have an advantage -- when functioning well (like the GOP in Colonie or the Dems in Albany), they have a lot of volunteers. The lesser parties have an advantage if they get recognized status. Currently this includes the Conservative Party, the Independence Party, and the Working Families Party. They only have to get 5% of the number of people enrolled in their party in the district. So if there's only 1000 enrolled in the WFP, they only need 50 signatures.
This is why some in the LP want to endorse a celebrity or major party candidate for Governor, as the Greens used to do with Grandpa Al (who played Grandpa on the Muensters TV show). The perception is that this would get 50,000 votes for the LP's Governor candidate, and that would make the party recognized statewide, so petitioning would be much easier in the future. Didn't work this year as the LP picked William Weld, and he dropped out.
posted by Albany Lawyer at 10:05 PM
4 Comments:
Are you seeking the Conservative line?
It's way too late for me to seek the Conservative line. Anyway, the incumbent Dem has had that line for the last 8 elections and I don't see why that would change.
Interesting that he gets both the Conservative and Working Families lines. That's because the three third parties (including Independence) have no real backbone or philosophy. They're just cheap political whores. Check out the incumbent's campaign finance filings -- he buys the endorsements. The Times Union did a great story on the Independence Party a few years ago that showed a lot of this. --Warren
The WFP doesn't care about any social issues, and tends to ONLY care about the fiscal, which is where McNulty's socialistic streak tends to shine. The Conservative line, I can imagine, primarily is tossed his way due to his stance on abortion. The Independence Party...well, here's hoping they're on their way out as the party of Golisano is barely that party any longer.
I disagree about the reasons those parties endorse incumbents. It's not about policy views. It's about money and power, and nothing else.
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