The Independent View: The Reform Party of New York

Rob Astorino, the 2014 Republican candidate for Governor and Westchester County Executive, formally filed paperwork on Tuesday that would create the Reform Party ballot line.

The move is a renaming of the Stop Common Core ballot line, which Astorino and Republicans last year formed to highlight their opposition to the controversial education standards.

While Astorino did not win last year, he did receive more than 50,000 votes on the line in order to establish it through this election cycle.

Astorino, who has not ruled out running for governor in 2018, will have Westchester resident, Marie Smith, to chair the new party. Senate Republicans were granted a seat on a temporary committee for the Reform Party, alongside one representative of the Assembly GOP.

Onondaga Comptroller Bob Antonacci, the Republican who run for state comptroller last year, also received some appointments on the temporary committee after signing off on the formation of the party. Astorino running mate Chris Moss was the third statewide candidate to back the new Reform Party.

Control of the Reform Party ballot line could be key: The committee would have control over which major party candidates can receive the ballot line, with the party’s chair signing off on non-enrolled members to run on the line through the Wilson-Pakula process.

The line could be of particular help to county chairs, an important constituency for any potential statewide candidate, who contend with Democratic-heavy enrollment.

In a statement, Astorino said the party will expand its approach beyond opposition to Common Core.

“Today is a good day for reformers in New York.*mnsp; The establishment of the Reform Party will be another force in the fight to enact desperately needed changes in New York, chief among them repealing Common Core and enacting term limits for legislators,” Astorino said.*nbsp; “I’m proud to have advanced these causes as the Republican and Conservative nominee for governor last year, but sadly, our state continues to falter. This ballot line was created through the hard work of New Yorkers actively engaged in seeking change, and any candidate who seeks its endorsement must commit to its principles. I look forward to continuing the fight for these reforms and strengthening our cause through this additional vehicle for change.”

The Reform Party has cause some consternation for the state’s Conservative Party, who voted to oppose the ballot line’s formation earlier this month. We are waiting for a response from the National Reform Party.

Still, Astorino will likely need as many lines as he can get under the state’s fusion balloting system if he wants to win statewide in Democratic-heavy New York.

With the re-organization of the ballot line, the Reform Party also gained a new symbol on the ballot: A broom.

CLICK HERE for the Reform Party rules and Regs 2-17-2015.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo established his own ballot line last year, the Women’s Equality Party, which will also continue through this current election cycle.

In New York's Election Law, a party can change their name at any time and there is no limit on how many times.

But there is a New York Reform Party.

CLICK HERE for their website.