Jan 6, 2010

NY: Libertarian-Republican for Governor?

In NY, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports on the possibility that libertarian-leaning Albany lawyer Warren Redlich may run for governor in the Empire State, seeking the nominations of the Libertarian and Republican Parties on New York's fusion ballot:
A Guilderland town board member and two-time Congress candidate with an Albany law practice is considering seeking the Libertarian and Republican nominations for governor.
Warren Redlich said Tuesday that he had originally considered running for attorney general as a Libertarian, given his legal background and experience. However, he said, some friends of his in the Libertarian Party suggested he run for governor, and former party chairman and current committee member Eric Sundwall has created a Facebook page, "Warren Redlich for New York Governor," that had attracted 127 members as of Tuesday afternoon . . .
The party's candidates will be chosen at a party convention in Albany on April 24, Sundwall said. Sundwall said nobody else, to his knowledge, has expressed interest in running for governor on the Libertarian line.
If the Libertarian Party chooses Redlich for governor, he would need 13,000 signatures to get on the ballot, including 100 from each of New York's 29 congressional districts. The party has run a candidate in every gubernatorial election since 1974, except for 1986. Their candidate in 2006, John Clifton, got 15,068 votes, three times as many as Scott Jeffrey in 2002 but a tiny fraction of the more than 3 million votes cast.

3 comments:

Ross Levin said...

I believe that to keep ballot access a third party needs 50,000 or more votes in the governor's race in New York State. FYI.

Samuel Wilson said...

This is a time for Libertarians to think about opening up their nomination process to wider public awareness. How many Tea Partiers in New York, for instance, know how soon the Libs are choosing their state ticket? How and when are delegates to the convention chosen, and how open is the process to newcomers? Publicity can only help their cause.

d.eris said...

Awareness is an important issue. I've been following third party news and issues fairly closely for a few years now, and it can still be difficult to track down that kind of nuts and bolts information.