The Reform Party of New York State was the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

branch of the

Reform Party of the United States of America The Reform Party of the United States of America (RPUSA), generally known as the Reform Party USA or the Reform Party, is a centrist political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot. Perot believed Americans were disillusion ...

. The branch was founded in 2000 after the

Independence Party of New York The Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of New York. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994. They lost their ballot ...

, which had been affiliated with the national Reform Party from 1994 to 2000, severed ties with the national party. A statewide ballot-access party bearing the Reform Party name, which had a sometimes contentious relationship with the national party, existed from 2015 to 2018. It was originally named the Stop Common Core party, referring to the

common core The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, is an educational initiative from 2010 that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the c ...

educational curriculum. Aside from this period, the party has had limited operations in the state, never qualifying for

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

in its own right and mainly running candidates in a small number of local elections. It is largely a one-person operation, with state chairman Bill Merrell being the main driving force behind the party.

Branch of the National Reform Party

The National Reform Party was affiliated with the

from 1996 to 2000, during which time Jack Essenberg was the Chair of the Independence Party, but they disaffiliated in 2000. The National Reform Party has a state branch in New York since 2007. It did not run any statewide candidates in races between 2007 and 2014, but did get multiple candidates onto the ballot in local elections, most prominently

Carl Person Carl E. Person (pronounced /ˈpir sən/) (born July 20, 1936) is an American attorney and politician. He founded the Paralegal Institute in the early 1970s and played a pivotal role in creating the paralegal field. He has also run unsuccessfully ...

, who ran under the Reform Party banner in the

2013 New York City mayoral election The 2013 New York City mayoral election occurred on November 5, 2013, along with elections for Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, and members of the New York City Council. The incumbent mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, a ...

. The national Reform Party claims five elected officials in the state, three of whom are in

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

: one county legislator (Charles J. Falciglia, who is registered as a Republican) and two trustees of the village of

Suffern Suffern is a village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Suffern is located 31 miles northwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 census, Suffern's population was 10,723.Lake George.

2015–2018 ballot-qualified party

In 2014,

Rob Astorino Robert Patrick Astorino (born May 3, 1967) is an American politician, radio producer and television host who was the county executive of Westchester County, New York from 2010 to 2017. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 201 ...

, the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

's nominee in that year's gubernatorial election, petitioned to create the Stop Common Core Party, a

single-issue Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of faction ...

ballot line designed to declare opposition to the

Common Core State Standards Initiative The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, is an educational initiative from 2010 that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the conc ...

and act as a counterweight to the

Women's Equality Party The Women's Equality Party (WEP) is a feminist political party set up in the United Kingdom in 2015. The idea was conceived by Catherine Mayer and Sandi Toksvig at the Women of the World Festival, when they concluded that there was a need ...

, a new party similarly created by Astorino's Democratic opponent,

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

. Under New York State Law, the Stop Common Core Party would qualify to automatically appear on the ballot for every election through

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

if it received at least 50,000 votes in the gubernatorial election, a threshold it narrowly achieved despite Astorino's overall loss. On February 17, 2015, Astorino announced he would change the name of the party to the "Reform Party" to broaden its appeal beyond a single issue and received permission from Bill Merrell, National Reform Party Chair, under an agreement to operate under the rules of the National Reform Party. The party initially ran into opposition from the

Conservative Party of New York State The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...

, who balked at allowing another ballot line to cross-endorse its candidates. Marie Smith became the chairperson of the state Reform Party. The national Reform Party lost control of the state party in September 2016 when

Curtis Sliwa Curtis Sliwa (; born March 26, 1954) is an American activist, radio talk show host and founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit organization for unarmed crime prevention. Sliwa was the Republican nominee for the ...

and

Frank Morano Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

led a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

of the party, installing Sliwa as chairman. Merrell sued to invalidate this takeover, alleging a violation of national guidelines and trademark infringement, but lost due to technical grounds. The original decision from Albany-based

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice Christina Ryba dismissed this suit. National Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente was not on the New York party line and ran in New York State as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

in 2016. No candidate appeared on the state Reform Party's presidential ballot, as the national party had failed to secure ballot access for De La Fuente before the deadline, which came before Sliwa's hostile takeover. The ballot-qualified independent Reform Party endorsed

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

Sal Albanese Sal F. Albanese (born August 29, 1949) is a politician from New York City. He served as a New York City Council member, and ran unsuccessfully for several other public offices including New York State Assembly, United States Congress, and Mayor ...

in the

2017 New York City mayoral election An election for Mayor of New York City was held on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Democrat Bill de Blasio won reelection to a second term with 66.2% of the vote against Republican Nicole Malliotakis. Background Bill de Blasio was elected mayor o ...

and

Ben Walsh Benjamin Walsh (born July 4, 1979) is an American politician currently serving as the 54th Mayor of Syracuse New York, United States. Walsh assumed office on January 1, 2018 as the first independent mayor of Syracuse and the second without major ...

in the 2017 Syracuse mayoral election. Walsh won, despite not having the endorsement of either the Democratic or Republican Parties (running only on a fusion ticket alongside the

). Sliwa's Reform Party considered multiple candidates, including cross-endorsements with potential Republican nominees or with the

Libertarian Party of New York The Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) (also known as the Free Libertarian Party of New York), is the affiliate of the Libertarian Party in the U.S. state of New York. Due to changes in New York State election law in 2020, the Libertarian Party ...

, or nominating their own candidate. ( Joel Giambra had spoken of his interest in the Reform Party line). The party executive committee deadlocked between Giambra and presumptive Republican nominee

Marc Molinaro Marcus J. Molinaro (born October 8, 1975) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Molinaro is the U.S. representative-elect for New York's 19th congressional district, and is currently serving his third term as county execut ...

in April. At the party convention on May 19, the party nominated Molinaro and running mate Julie Killian as the gubernatorial ticket, incumbent Democrat

Thomas DiNapoli Thomas Peter DiNapoli II (born February 10, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 54th and current New York State Comptroller since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously the New York State Assemblyman for the 16th dis ...

for Comptroller, and offered former U.S. Attorney

Preet Bharara Preetinder Singh Bharara (; born October 13, 1968) is an Indian-born American lawyer, author, podcaster and former federal prosecutor who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. He is curren ...

the attorney general nomination, which he did not accept; Sliwa's wife Nancy, running on a

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the s ...

platform, then defeated two challengers (Mike Diederich and Libertarian nominee Christopher Garvey) in an open primary to secure the attorney general nomination. The independent Reform Party under Curtis Sliwa finished last among all parties on the ballot in the 2018, far short of the 50,000 votes needed to maintain ballot access. Sliwa rejoined the Republican Party as part of his campaign in the

2021 New York City mayoral election The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. On June 22, 2021, the primary elections for the Democratic and Republican primaries ...

. Sliwa lost the mayoral election and did not receive support from the NYS Reform Party. Bill Merrell took control of the New York State Reform Party over after Sliwas poor showing in the 2018 elections. In 2018, Bill Merrell was again elected State Chair of the NYS Reform Party. As of February 2019, approximately 400 persons were still registered as members of the "Reform Party" with the

New York State Board of Elections The New York State Board of Elections is a bipartisan agency of the New York state government within the New York State Executive Department responsible for enforcement and administration of election-related laws. It also regulates campaign fi ...

References

{{Reform Parties in the United States Political parties in New York (state) Political parties in the United States

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...