PLATTSBURGH — If Elise Stefanik is chosen as Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate for the 2024 election, the North Country may wind up with a new representative in Congress depending on the reading of election laws that regulate candidates running on a presidential ticket.
Dr. Harvey L. Schantz, a longtime political science professor at SUNY Plattsburgh, said that according to New York election laws, it appears there cannot be dual candidacies in New York state.
But as with many such cases, the matter could take court action to decide.
Schantz explained that candidacy in New York State elections is handled by New York State Election Law and there are a number of basic principles that are taken for granted, but come up from time to time, including the question of whether the same person can simultaneously run for more than one position in the general election.
According to the book by the New York State Board of Elections, Election Law Update 2023, in the section titled “Running for Two Offices,” it states, by quoting a court case, “‘It is well settled that one may not run for two public offices where one would be precluded from holding both offices at the same time.’”
“A basic principle of American government is the separation of powers which in part means separate personnel in each branch of government, as called for in the incompatibility clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 6, Clause 2,” Schantz said.
According to Congress.gov, “The incompatibility Clause forbids Members of Congress from simultaneously holding another federal office.”
“This comes up all the time when U.S. Senators give up their position to become president, as Barack Obama did in 2009, or vice-president as Joe Biden did in 2009, or to enter the president’s cabinet, as Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama did in 2017,” Schantz said.
In New York state, a person can be nominated for more than one office.
But, Schantz points out, they must decline one of the offices in a timely manner as outlined in the New York State Political Calendar.
“Successive nominations are contemplated by the Election Law,” according to the New York State appellate division case of D’Angelo v. Maloney (2018), in which Hudson Valley Congressman Sean Maloney sought nominations for both another term in the House and for State Attorney General.
But, Schantz said, once receiving a dual nomination, a candidate must decline one of them pursuant to New York State Election Law, Section 6-146.
OTHER STATES
A few states have written election laws to allow their politicians to run for the presidency and another office simultaneously, a practice that began in 1960 when the state of Texas allowed Lyndon Johnson to win another term in the U.S. Senate on the same day he was elected vice president, Schantz said.
Similarly, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 ran simultaneously for senate and vice-president with Michael Dukakis, as did Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman in 2000 with Al Gore, when he simultaneously lost the vice-presidency and won another six years in the senate.
In 2008, Joe Biden was simultaneously elected vice-president of the United States and elected to a seventh term as a U.S. Senator from Delaware.
Ambition for higher office among House Members is not unheard of. For example, in 2022, Lee Zeldin, who began his House career at the same time as Stefanik, gave up his House seat in order to run for governor of New York State, Schantz noted.
Zeldin, a Republican, lost to incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul.
Hochul became governor when she was elevated from her position of lieutenant governor when Andrew Cuomo resigned in 2021.