At the start of every election season in New York, there is much talk among pols and the press about which major Party candidates the minor Parties (Independence, Conservative, Working Families this year, with the Greens joining the fun next year) will cross-endorse in the various contests throughout the state.
However, except for the most high profile contests, there is little notice paid to what effect (if any) the minor Party endorsements when the elections are held. I think this is because the unofficial results published the day after Election Day almost always list the total votes for each candidate, not the results for each Party.
Two years I attempted to rectify this by using the official results to report on those contests where the winning candidate needed the additional votes on minor Party lines to prevail.
That year, there were 8 such contests. The New York State Board of Elections has now published the official results for Congress and State Legislature with includes the total for each Party (except for the still not officially decided Johnson-Martins Senate and Skartados-Kirwan Assembly races, both of which will involve the votes on the minor Party lines mattering) and we can see that number was significantly higher this year and affected national politics in a big way.
Congress
1st CD (Suffolk)
In the last congressional race in the country to be decided, Democrat Tim Bishop needed the 5,895 votes he received on the Working Families line to win. Bishop got 85,051 votes as a Democrat to Randy Altschuler’s combined 97,723 on the R-I-C lines.
13th CD (Staten Island-Brooklyn)
Congressman Mike McMahon’s combined DI vote of 60,773 was more than Michael Grimm’s 55,821 Republican votes but the extra 9,203 Conservative votes from Grimm elected him.
19th CD (Hudson Valley)
Similarly to McMahon, Congressman John Hall’s combined DW vote of 98,797 would have beaten Nan Hayworth’s 88,734 Republican votes. But Hayworth also 15,778 votes on the Conservative line and 5,444 on the Independence line.
22nd CD (Catskills-Southern Tier)
Republican George Phillips might have edged out Democratic Congressman Maurice Hinchey as his RC combined total of 88,687 was more than the 83,849 Hinchey got as a Democrat. But Hinchey also received 8,886 WFP votes & 5,926 on the IP line.
23rd CD (North Country)
Minor Parties played a big role as the winner Congressman Bill Owens had 75,849 Democratic votes, and 6,383 WFP votes for a total of 82,232 to Matt Doheny’s RI total 80,237 and Republican Primary loser Doug Hoffman’s 10,507 Conservative votes.
24th CD (Central NY)
The straight D-R results here would have been a real squeaker as Congressman Mike Arcuri had 85,624 votes on the Democratic line to the winner Richard Hanna’s 85,702 on the Republican line. But Hanna also received 10,313 votes on the Conservative line and 5,584 on the Independence line, which Arcuri got 4,185 on the Moderate Party line, leaving Hanna with a fairly comfortable win.
25th CD (Central NY)
Here, straight D-R results here would have been a rout as Democratic Congressman Dan Maffei had 95,146 Democratic votes to Ann Marie Buerkle’s 81,380 Republican votes. But Buerkle also got 16,830 Conservative votes and 6,392 on the IP line, while Maffei got only 8,808 on the WFP line. This resulted in a win by only 748 votes for Buerkle.
State Senate
37th SD (Westchester)
Senator Suzi Oppenheimer’s 43,285 votes on the Democratic line alone were not enough to beat the 45,158 votes Bob Cohen received as the RIC candidate. Oppenheimer’s 2,603 votes put her over the top.
41st SD (Hudson Valley)
Assemblyman Greg Ball had 42,330 on the Republican line to Mike Kaplowitz’ combined total of 45,536 as the Democratic and IP lines. The Conservatives 8,338 was necessary for Ball to win.
48th SD (North Country)
Democratic Senator Darrel Aubertine’s DI vote of 34,712 was more that Patricia Ritchie’s Republican vote of 33,272. But Ritchie’s 4,922 Conservative votes, along with 314 she got on the Taxpayer’s line gave her the win.
49th SD (Central NY)
Senator Dave Valesky’s 37,637 Democratic votes were edged out by the 39,317 votes that Republican Andrew Russo got on the Republican and lines. The 3,196 votes Valesky got as the WFP candidate and 3,102 as the Independence choice allowed him to win.
55th SD (Monroe County)
The straight D-R results here would have been an upset for Democrat Mary Wilmot with 47,298 votes to Senator Jim Alesi’s Republican vote of 45,141. But Alesi also added 7,970 votes on the Conservative line & 3,914 on the Independence line and Wilmot only added 2,865 on the Cut Taxes Add Jobs (a candidate created party) line.
58th SD (Erie)
Republican Assemblyman Jack Quinn had 41,162 votes as the Republican-Taxpayers candidate, more than the 38,496 Senator-elect Tim Kennedy received on the Democratic line. But adding the votes on the Conservative line put Kennedy at 42,757, while the Democratic Senator Kennedy beat in the Primary, William Stachowski got 6,611 votes as the IP-WFP candidate.
60th SD (Erie-Niagara)
The biggest upset in NY politics this year was Mark Grisanti’s defeating Senator Antoine Thompson here. Thompson Democratic vote (30,688) would have beaten Grisanti’s Republican vote (28,875) even without the 2,036 WFP votes for Thompson. But Grisanti’s 4,368 Conservative votes put him over the top.
State Assembly
1st AD (Suffolk)
Assemblyman Marc Alessi’s DIW total of 22,934 was more than Daniel Losquadro’s R total of 18,755. However, the 4,752 votes on the Conservative line and the 353 on the School Tax Relief (a county Republican Party creation) line gave Losquadro the win.
3rd AD (Suffolk)
Democrat Robert Calarco’s DIW vote of 14,493 was more than Assemblyman Dean Murray’s 13,068 Republican vote. But like above, the 3,070 votes on the Conservative line and the 383 on the School Tax Relief gave the win to Murray.
5th AD (Suffolk)
There was a three way contest here with two registered Democrats, Ken Mangan on the Democratic line getting 10,588 and Assemblywoman Ginny Fields (who Mangan beat in the Primary by less than 200 votes) getting 6,041 votes on the IP line and 1,538 on the WFP. The winner, Alfred Graf got 14,268 on the Republican line and 3,542 on the Conservative.
89th AD (Westchester)
Thomas Roach’s 21,151 combined DIW votes were more than Assemblyman Robert Castelli’s 18,851 Republican votes but Castelli’s votes on the Conservative and Taxpayers lines got him up to 21,263 votes for a narrow win.
96th AD (Orange-Rockland)
In a similar race to above, Roxanne Donnery’s 18,935 combined votes on the Democratic and Had Enough (another candidate created party) line were more than Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun’s 15,536 Republican votes but Calhoun’s votes on the Conservative and Independence lines got her up to 19,476 votes for a narrow win.
108th AD (Capital District)
Assemblyman Tim Gordon, a member of the Independence Party had enough votes as the DIW candidate – 24,347 to edge out Assemblyman-elect Steve McLaughlin’s votes as Republican – 22,285. But the 5,039 votes added by the Conservatives got McLaughlin up to 27,342 votes.
109th AD (Capital District)
Assemblyman Robert Reilly might have been another losing incumbent as his 23,477 votes on the Democratic line is less than the 26,457 Jennifer Reilly got as the RC candidate. But Reilly also was the IW candidate and ended up with 27,018 votes.
121st AD (Onondaga)
An incumbent who did lose was Assemblyman Albert Stirpe despite his DW total of 21,926 beating the 17,780 Republican votes for Donald Miller. Miller’s additional 3,706 Conservative and 1,412 Independence votes got him the win.
135th AD (Monroe County)
Another incumbent who lost was Assemblyman David Koon despite his DIW total of 25,485 beating the 22,029 Republican votes for Mark Johns. Miller’s additional 4,855 Conservative votes got him the win.
138th AD (Niagara)
And finally, in a race similar to the 5th AD above, there was a three way contest here with two registered Democrats, John Accardo on the Democratic and Conservative lines getting 11,984 and Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte (who Accardo beat in the Primary by less than 300 votes) getting 7,338 votes on the WFP line. The winner, John Ceretto got 15,282 on the Republican line, 1,348 on the Independence line and 92 on the Taxpayers.
One thing to keep in mind, however, if that we shouldn’t just assume that a campaign that as listed above looks like it won or lost because of the minor party endorsements automatically played out that way. Candidates campaigned a certain way and voters acted the way they did with these endorsement already made. The candidates might have campaigned differently if the minor party lineup was different and a voter who voted for someone on one line might have also voted for that same candidate if he or she wasn’t on that line.