Who Owns The
Independence Party?

	Enrollment has stagnated. Following a surge in 1996-when Reform presidential candidate H. Ross Perot garnered 16 percent of the state's vote-party leaders boldly predicted they would quickly pass the Conservative Party to rank No. 3 in members in New York. Instead, sign-ups tapered off. At last count, there were 147,000 party members-still 22,000 fewer than the Conservatives-or about 1.4 percent of New York's registered voters. Gubernatorial candidate Thomas Golisano's decent showing in 1998 (8 percent) could bring more members.
	No one ran for the state Legislature in 1998 solely with Independence backing. Lots of sitting Democrats and Republicans received the party's cross-endorsement-similar to the way Conservatives and Liberals cross-endorse major-party favorites. On the town and city level, there seems to be almost no grooming of candidates.
	Despite claiming to be an alternative to the status quo, the party has been bankrolled by Democrats and Republicans. Of the $31,000 the party raised in the first six months of 1999, two-thirds came from incumbent state legislators, congressmen or committees run by the major parties.

 

A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep The fledgling Independence Party had 147,545 enrolled voters as of April 1999, the most recent update by the state Board of Elections. That's about 1.4 percent of New York State's registered voters. Although it has members in every county, there are no hotbeds of support. No county has more than 2.6 percent oif its voters signed up as Independence members. Here's a look at the IP's support by county:
Top IP Counties on a Percentage
County	IP Members	% Of Voters
Franklin	700	2.6
Jefferson	1,385	2.5
Cortland	714	2.4
Otsego	837	2.4
Top IP Counties by Raw Numbers
County	IP Members	% Of Voters
Suffolk	12,526	1.5
New York	12,491	1.2
Kings	9,391	0.8
Queens	8,549	0.9
Erie	7,938	1.3
Westchester	7,764	1.5
Source: New York State Board of Elections

All the factors, political analysts say, underscore the heart of the Independence Party's problem: no identity.

"They had some momentum with Perot and Golisano. But it never developed into a set of ideas or a movement,'' says Gerald Benjamin, a professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Political scientists point out third parties typically arise to rally behind a "great cause" or charismatic leader. With Ventura, it was the latter. With the Conservative Party, it was the former. The Independence Party has struggled to find either.

"Originally, when they burst onto the scene with Golisano, they had a clear image: lower taxes, improve the economy, make government more efficient," says Syracuse University professor Jeff Stonecash. "They put pressure on (Gov. George) Pataki with their ads on the state's (growing) debt ... It will be two years since that message. Golisano won't spend any money on the party. There's lot's of internal squabbling ... that makes them look like petty third-party people fighting for crumbs. And there's still a lot of confusion about the name. People think it means 'independent.' I have no idea what people think of the IP now," says Stonecash in summary.

Party activists differ on how to fix their image, underscoring a large philosophical fissure.

State chairman Jack Essenberg of Sullivan County thinks the party must build by raising money and raising its profile through identifying with well-known names. For example, the party backed U.S Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-Brooklyn, in his successful bid to unseat incumbent Alfonse D'Amato last year. Essenberg and others think the Independence endorsement helped the liberal Schumer woo about 250,000 upstate voters, who are generally conservative.

"I think we changed a lot of minds upstate about Chuck Schumer," Essenberg says.

DEMS, GOP BANKROLLING INDEPENDENCE PARTY The Independence Party portrays itself as an alternative to the political status quo. But campaign-finance statements show that it is bankrolled by Republican and Democratic politicians, thus far in 1999. In the first six months of the year, nearly two-thirds of contributions to the party came from state legislators, county political leaders and even two congressmen, according to records filed with the state Board of Elections. The rest came chiefly from Independence Party county organizations. The party raised $31,170. Here's a list of some contributors to the Independence Party from January 15 to June 15:
Congressmen
Michael McNulty	D-Green Island	$250
John Sweeney	R-Clifton Park	$250
State Senators
Joseph Bruno	R-Brunswick	$2,000
John R. Kuhl	R-Hammondsport	$1,000
William Larkin	R-New Windsor	$1,000
Thomas Libous	R-Binghamton	$1,000
Michael Nozzolio	R-Fayette	$1,000
Richard Dollinger	D-Brighton	$250
Hugh Farley	R-Niskayuna	$250
Anthony Nanula	D-Buffalo	$250
Nicholas Spano	R-Yonkers	$250
Guy Velella	R-Bronx	$250
State Assembly members
Ron Canestrari	D-Cohoes	$250
Robert Daly	R-Niagara Falls	$250
RoAnn Destito	D-Rome	$250
Alexander Gromack	D-Congers	$250
David Koon	D-Perinton	$250
Bill Magee	D-Nelson	$250
Naomi Matusow	D-North Castle	$250
Joel Miller	R-Poughkeepsie	$250
David Seaman	R-Lockport	$250
Paul Tonko	D-Amsterdam	$250
Nancy Calhoun	R-Blooming Grove	$100
Michael Spano	R-Yonkers	$100
David Townsend	R-Ava	$100
Jim Tedisco	R-Schenectady	$50
Source:New York State Board of Elections

Essenberg also defends courting incumbent state legislators for donations-more than 40 have contributed to his party so far in 1999.

"I'm trying to raise money and build this party," he says. Then, brushing aside fears that the party would be co-opted by such practices, he adds: "A couple of dollars are not going to change anything about the Independence Party ... We're not talking large sums of money here."

Essenberg detractors have fought over party endorsements and control of county committees. They have battled in court over control of the Suffolk County committee and others, with the dissenters saying the chairman wants to hand-pick county leaders rather than letting rank-and-file members do so. They also point out that Essenberg, at times, has given out the party's endorsement to candidates not backed by county committees.

Essentially, the dissenters think Essenberg is more interested in political patronage jobs than building a statewide party-a criticism often lobbed at the Liberal Party, another party often accused of losing its identity.

"If Jack has his way, he'll be Ray Harding II," says Suffolk chairman Frank MacKay, referring to the long-time leader of the state's Liberal Party.

MacKay is one of a core of dissenters calling themselves the Independence Democracy Coalition. Others include Graham, Manhattan chairwoman Cathy Stewart and Laureen Oliver of Monroe County, the party's lieutenant governor candidate last year.

The two sides are headed for a showdown in 2000, when the party holds its organizing convention in the spring. The MacKay faction is looking to elect a new executive committee and give Essenberg the boot. Coalition members say they will command two-thirds of the weighted delegate vote by controlling Suffolk, New York, Erie and Monroe counties.

Among other things, the outcome likely will determine who gets the party's endorsement for the 2000 U.S. Senate race.

Essenberg and his allies have met with the presumptive candidates, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The chairman thinks the party's ballot line will draw more than 250,000 votes next year. Being identified with one of those two high-profile politicians could raise the IP profile, Essenberg thinks.

But dissenters say anyone who wants the endorsement had better start talking about the party's core issues. Those include allowing Election-Day voter registration, loosening ballot-access laws and making it easier to put referendums on the statewide ballot. And most especially, reforming campaign-finance laws.

"In order to get to the point where we are a true third party, we have to get these reforms through," MacKay says, adding hopefully, "I think (the 2000 election) is a possible turning point in New York politics.

Yancey Roy is Capitol correspondent for Gannett News Service.

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