Tea Party in, Working Families Party out?

After the November elections, it’s possible the Working Families Party will not have a designated line on ballots across New York State. But the Tea Party could.

There is only one criterion for getting a party on state ballots: the party’s gubernatorial candidate must get at least 50,000 votes in the general election.

The Working Families Party (WFP) was hoping Democrat Andrew Cuomo would accept their nomination and appear in the party’s top slot in November. But the Cuomo campaign is saying, “Not now.”

In a statement released Friday about the WFP, campaign spokesman Phil Singer said, “There are several open issues that need to be considered, including but not limited to an ongoing federal investigation….”

Those last three words are often deal breakers. But this being an election year, there’s plenty of speculation beyond the official statement.

The New York Times quotes an anonymous source who says Cuomo is delaying any association with the WFP to prevent the party from endorsing candidates in the race to replace Cuomo as Attorney General. It’s the kind of “Inside Baseball” political maneuvering that bores all but the wonkiest poll watchers, but you can read all about it here.

There is also speculation that Cuomo is keeping organized labor–a core WFP constituency–at arm’s length. From the Times to our own Albany correspondent Karen DeWitt, there is plenty of reporting (link to the Times story; link to Karen’s story) about Cuomo’s attempt to position himself as an Albany “outsider.” One rationale goes along these lines: Running with minimal support from unions would put Cuomo (if elected) in a stronger position to demand concessions on public employees’ pay and benefits in this age of broken state budgets.

Summing this up: Cuomo is (for now) apparently willing to run without the WFP nomination. If the party can’t find a gubernatorial candidate that gets them 50,000+ votes, November would be the last time–for at least four years–the party would appear as a printed line on state ballots.

(Side note: A bill was anonymously floated last week in the State Senate to change this criterion and allow parties to remain on future ballots if they garner more than 50,000 votes in any statewide race. We’ll just have to see if this makes it through our dysfunctional state legislature and is signed by Gov. Paterson.)

The Tea Party’s chance to get its own printed line on New York ballots rests with Carl Paladino.

The billionaire Buffalo developer says he’ll put $10 million into his campaign for Governor. And he’s already garnered the support of some Tea Party groups across the state.

If Paladino makes good on his pledge, it’s certainly possible (bordering on probable) that he’d get at least 50,000 votes.

Political parties appear and vanish all the time. So, I wonder if this matters to you as a voter. And do you think it’s appropriate that only one criterion determines which parties are printed on New York State ballots? Comment below.

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Update: The Working Families Party nominated Ken Schaeffer for Governor and Elon Harpaz for Lt. Gov.

But this big qualifier is part of the WFP release:
“These outstanding individuals have shown a longstanding commitment to working families and they are the best candidates currently available. That said, they are all team players, and should stronger candidates emerge, WFP members may revisit today’s decisions.”

Tags: election10