NY Republicans Leaving the Party

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

New York's Rensselaer County Republicans are moving Party Supporters, into the Working Families Party (WFP) from the Independence Party, in an effort to Offset Democratic Strength in November, when County Executive Steve McLaughlin runs for Re-Election, officials in the Three Parties confirmed Monday. The move has angered WFP and Democratic Leaders.

The Independence, Green, and other Minor Parties’ Failure to Secure enough Votes in the 2020 Presidential Election that cost them their Spots on 2021's Ballot and threatens to Derail the long-time County GOP Strategy of Running its Candidates on Multiple Lines. New York is a Fusion State that allows this.

“We’re working on that now,” County GOP Chairman, John Rustin, said about the Voter Registration Effort. Rustin said County Republicans are discussing what steps to take. Republicans at the Local Level said Independence Voters who have Family and other Ties to the GOP have been approached by Party Operative, Richard Crist, and completed Change of Registration Forms that are expected to be filed with the County Board of Elections at a Later date. “There are more important things right now than politics. That’s what we’re focused on,” said Crist, the County GOP’s Preeminent Operative and Director of Operations for the County.

The Independence Party line accounted for nearly 10% or 2,008 Votes of the 20,685 Votes McLaughlin received in his 2017 Victory over Democratic Candidate, Andrea Smyth. McLaughlin Won the Election by 1,090 Votes.

A Change in a Voter’s Party Enrollment must be filed by Feb. 14th in order to be Valid for the Individual to cast a Ballot in the June 22nd Primary. Having sympathetic Minor Party Members allows Operatives to Collect Signatures to Force Write-In Primaries in an attempt to Win the Ballot position.

Winning a Working Families Party Primary by just a few Votes can translate to more than a Thousand in the General Election, said Phil Markham, the Rensselaer County Working Families Leader. In 2017 the Party Line contributed 1,632 Votes to Smyth’s Total of 19,595.

The Working Families Party’s Progressive Values aren’t shared by Republicans who use “a loophole in the election law to put their own candidates on the ballot,” Markham said. “It’s no surprise to learn that Republican operatives who are on the county payroll are attempting to take something that isn’t theirs by… taking advantage of people who don’t know better, or worse,” Markham said.

County Democratic Chairman, Michael Monescalchi said, “The local Republicans are running scared and will even go as far as to infiltrate a party with whom they have major philosophical differences.”

Republicans throughout the County have concentrated in the past on Securing up to as many as Five Party Lines. This year, after a Change in Ballot Access Laws, only the Democratic, Republican, Working Families, and Conservative Parties are on the Ballot. The Green Party, Independence Party, Libertarian Party, and SAM Party, lost their Ballot Line.

The County has 35,352 Democrats compared to 26,357 Republicans, according to the Latest State Board of Elections Enrollment Figures. The Republicans also are Outnumbered by the County’s Unaffiliated Voters. There were 8,291 Independence, 999 Working Families Party, and 4,174 Conservatives, according to State Enrollment Tallies.

Registration Forms began flowing out of the Rensselaer County Board of Elections last week, said Democratic Elections Commissioner, Edward McDonough. “We won’t see any returned until the 12th or 13th of February,” McDonough said about an anticipated Last-Minute Filing by County Republicans.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker