Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner secured automatic ballot status for the Serve America Movement in New York State through 2022 because she and running-mate Michael Volpe won more than 50,000 votes on that ballot line in the gubernatorial election last week.
Greens, Libertarians, Working Families and Conservatives maintain status
Women’s Equality and Reform parties lose automatic ballot status heading into 2022 gubernatorial elections
Third party candidates Howie Hawkins, Larry Sharpe and Stephanie Miner each protected their respective party lines into the 2022 elections by garnering more than 50,000 votes.
First-time gubernatorial candidate Miner, and her running mate Michael Volpe, succeeded in winning a recognized ballot line for the Serve America Movement (SAM), making SAM the newest third party in New York state. With 51,367 votes behind it, SAM surpasses the 50,000 vote requirement to protect the ballot line.
Miner won 5,314 votes in her home county, Onondaga, and 1,252 votes in Syracuse where she had served as mayor from 2010 to 2018.
Hawkins and the Greens’ lieutenant governor hopeful Jia Lee won 95,716 votes across the state for the Green Party, and ensured their party line status for the next four years. This is the first time in state history that a candidate has won a ballot line three consecutive times for a third party in the gubernatorial elections.
“We have secured a Green Party ballot line in New York state for three consecutive elections by running our own candidates instead of running a major party candidate on our line. That’s a significant achievement in a system designed to create so-called third parties that merely function as extra ballot lines for the Democratic and Republican parties,” Hawkins said.
Sharpe and the Libertarians’ lieutenant governor hopeful Andrew Hollister also secured the status for the Libertarian Party, with 90,816 votes statewide.
Though its candidate Cynthia Nixon lost the primary, The Working Families Party won 106,008 votes under Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the general election with his re-election for a third term.
The Women’s Equality Party (WEP) line under Gov. Cuomo, however, has failed to make the 50,000-vote cut, and with only 25,510 votes, have lost their ballot status for the 2022 election. The Reform Party (REF), under Republican candidate Marc Molinaro, has also lost its ballot status with only 26,069 votes in last week’s election.
The Conservative Party, which ran an extensive advertising campaign urging voters to use its line to make a political statement on Nov. 7, secured 238,578 votes, easily securing its status moving forward.
The Independence Party garnered 63, 518 under the Cuomo/Hochul ticket.
