NY Political Parties

Below are links to New York State political parties.  First, a word on New York's fusion elections and third parties.

New York is unique among the states in that it is the only state that actively practices electoral fusion. This is when a candidate's name appears on the ballot more than once and under the "party label" of more than two parties. It is not uncommon for Democratic or Republican Party candidates to appear two or three times on a ballot, under the label of different "parties". Often these third parties are created by organized interest groups (e.g. Working Families Party - labor unions) or wealthy individuals (e.g. Taxpayers Party - Carl Palidino) and are hardly considered political parties. Organizationally they are weak - they typically don't recruit, nominate, or fund candidates. They might have an internet presence but as for paid, full time staff there's little if any organizational  complexity. Some third parties (e.g. Green Party, Libertarian Party) do posses these characteristics. Third parties win few if any seats and there's little prospect of hope in the future that this will change, especially in a state like New York. While the electorate is unhappy with the current two party system it is not clamoring for a new third party - if anything the electorate is turning toward political independence, unaligned with either the Democrats or Republicans.

Nevertheless, fusion can allow voters to more accurately vote their preferences, as one can do in multi-party states. For example, Governor Pataki was elected in 1994 with his name on the Republican and Conservative Party lines. Pataki received in excess of 324 thousand votes on the Conservative line, which provided the margin of victory in the election. This matters because Pataki had to consider these votes (i.e. electoral connection) when governing.Also, conservative voters could express their preference more accurately and have their votes "count" in the margin of victory.

Conservative Party of New York State

Democratic Party

Green Party of New York

Independence Party of New York

Liberal Party of New York

Libertarian Party of New York

Reform Party of New York
Republican Party
Rent is too Damn High Party
Right to Life Party of New York
Socialist Party of New York
Taxpayers Party of New York
Working Families Party