Paladino files for new party line
Buffalo News
Carl Paladino's quest to create a new minor-party ballot line as part of his run for governor moved a step forward Tuesday with his submission of independent nominating petitions to the state.
Paladino, a Buffalo developer, filed petitions with 28,000 signatures, nearly double the number required by the state Board of Elections.
"We're extremely pleased with the result," Paladino said during an afternoon news conference outside the Ellicott Square in downtown Buffalo. "We're still receiving petition signatures at a rate in excess of 1,000 a day."
Paladino, a Republican seeking his own party's nomination in the Sept. 14 primary, did encounter one setback Tuesday when onetime gubernatorial candidate John J. Faso endorsed his GOP opponent, Rick Lazio.
Faso, a former state assemblyman, has a large following within the conservative wing of the party.
The Faso endorsement didn't stop Paladino spokesman Michael R. Caputo from suggesting that the new Taxpayers Party line could surpass the Conservative and Independence parties as New York's premier third-party line.
He said Paladino's research indicates the new line, designed to attract "tea party" voters and others unhappy with state government, could attract twice as many voters as the Conservative line.
Caputo described the new ballot line as part of a historic first in New York.
"Nobody can remember a gubernatorial candidate who petitioned his way onto a major-party primary ballot and then turned around and created a new independent third party," Caputo said.
Under state election law, independent parties can be formed by collecting 15,000 signatures from registered voters of any political party.
The law also requires that at least 100 of those signatures be collected in at least half of the state's 29 congressional districts.
Caputo said the campaign has met both those standards and, with the help of 2,000 volunteers, has collected at least 100 signatures from each congressional district in New York State.
To remain on the ballot after this year, the Taxpayer Party needs to attract 50,000 votes in the November statewide general election.
Caputo said Paladino's creation of a third-party ballot line has its roots in the Conservative Party's decision to endorse Lazio for governor, not Paladino. No Republican has won statewide office without Conservative Party support since 1974.
"I think this is going to be a unique year in many respects," Paladino said Tuesday.
Caputo also revealed that Rus Thompson of Grand Island, the Taxpayers Party candidate for state comptroller, is withdrawing from the race to focus on Paladino's campaign. He said the campaign is looking for a replacement.
The new line, if certified by the state, has two other statewide candidates besides Paladino: U.S. Senate candidates David Malpass, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Kirsten E. Gillibrand, and Gary Berntsen, who is taking on Democratic incumbent Charles E. Schumer.
Tom Precious of The News Albany Bureau contributed to this story.