The two independent candidates running for Congress in the 21st Congressional District aren’t going to appear on the ballot in November, but voters will have their pick of three of people who’ve been seeking major party lines instead.
According to filings with the state Board of Elections, both Anthony T. Constantino and Blake Gendebien, who are seeking the Republican and Democratic nominations respectively for NY-21, were able to submit independent nominating petitions that secured a spot on the ballot for them under party lines they’ve come up with themselves.
Constantino will appear under the “Taxpayer Rights” line, and Gendebien will appear under the “Lower Costs Now” line. According to a press release, Constantino got just about 9,280 signatures to secure the independent line, while Gendebien hasn’t publicized his own efforts to get a second line on the ballot.
Constantino’s opponent in the Republican primary for NY-21, Assemblyman Robert J. Smullen, R-Meco, has secured the support of the state Conservative Party and will appear on their ballot in November as well — although he secured that through the major party nominating process and did not create the ballot line name himself, as Gendebien and Constantino have.
There were two other men who were seeking just to appear on an independent ballot line; Christopher Schmidt and Brian Rouleau. Both men were seeking to break out of the traditional two-party system and pitched themselves as an option for voters who dislike the direction the two major political parties have gone.
Schmidt announced this week that he intends to continue his campaign as a write-in effort, and said he continues to hear messages of support from voters around the district as he pursues the Congressional seat.
“Many people throughout NY-21 believe neither major party candidate fully represents the concerns of working families, small businesses, young people, retirees, and rural communities,“ Schmidt said. ”The problems facing Upstate New York are not going away, and neither are we.”
Rouleau told Johnson Newspapers that he was able to secure about 2,432 petition signatures, which would have been a few hundred more than he would have needed to make the ballot for a major party.
“I do have an attorney that is interested in raising a legal challenge to put me on the ballot as I did gather enough signatures if I were either a Republican or Democrat,” he said.
He said he may pursue a legal challenge to force himself onto the ballot, or work with a nonprofit organization to advance his political goal of uncapping the House from its mandated 435 members to a much higher number. But he said that after he appeared at a handful of Constantino campaign events, allies of Constantino have started to threaten him, his friends and family online.
“I’m perfectly willing to fight them straight up with policy and grit, but they’re being very underhanded and going after those around me instead of arguing against the Trident,” he said, referencing his three-point “Trident” policy platform.
Schmidt has also been working through a legal challenge to the state’s rules regarding ballot access; New York requires that people seeking an elected office to circulate petitions to appear on the ballot. The rules change depending on the size of the party and the size of the district the person is running to represent, but for Congress a major party candidate needs to get at least 1,250 signatures to appear on the ballot. Candidates seeking the party lines for the Conservative or Working Families parties need far fewer signatures, 5% of the active enrolled party members within the district.
Independent nominating petitions to appear on a non-party affiliated ballot line have a much higher threshold; for Congress a candidate needs at least 3,500 signatures to appear on the ballot. and because those candidates seeking independent ballot lines aren’t working with the major parties to secure them, it’s much more difficult for independent candidates to make the ballot. That’s the issue Schmidt has raised in his lawsuit.
“When laws make it nearly impossible for grassroots candidates to reach voters, the people lose meaningful choices,” he said. “Voters deserve competition, new ideas, and representatives who are accountable to their communities rather than political institutions.”
As things stand now, Gendebien, Constantino and Smullen are all-but-guaranteed to appear on the November ballots at the very least under their third-party and independent ballot lines. Depending on if he wins the Democratic primary against Stuart Amoriell on June 23, Gendebien could also secure the Democratic party line and appear on two ballot lines.
If Constantino wins his primary battle against Smullen, he will also have two party lines. If he loses, he will just appear under the ‘Taxpayer Rights’ line. If Smullen wins that primary, he will have two lines, and if he loses he will appear only under the Conservative Party line.
Candidates can opt to decline third-party ballot lines, and this year the candidates who filled out independent nominating petitions have until June 26 to decline the line if they lose a party primary.
It doesn’t appear that the Working Families party, the left-leaning third party that often works with the state Democratic Party, will be nominating anyone for Congress in NY-21.{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/form}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}{/div}