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ALBANY, N.Y. -- The head of the Ross Perot-inspired
Independence Party said Thursday that Gov. George Pataki may have the
support of more than two-thirds of the party's leadership in his expected
bid for their ballot line.
Party Chairman Frank MacKay said, "9-11 has made the governor a
heroic figure in a lot of people's eyes and our party is not separated
from the world in that sense."
Pataki has said he expects to seek a third term this year and in addition
to the Republican ballot line is almost certain to also have the support
of the Conservative Party, as he did in his successful 1994 and 1998
races. For more than a year, Pataki has also been actively courting the
Independence Party.
Should Pataki win the Independence Party line, he would probably have
three of the top four ballot lines for the November election. Former
federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and state Comptroller H. Carl
McCall are
battling for the Democratic nomination.
Unlike other states, New York allows major-party candidates to also count
votes they receive on minor-party ballot lines. That makes such
endorsements
potentially crucial in a close race. Pataki beat then-Democratic Gov.
Mario Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo's father, in 1994 on the strength of the
strength of the Conservative Party line vote.
In an interview Wednesday, another Independence Party leader, former
Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham, had predicted that Pataki already had the
support of two-thirds of the party's state committee members.
"I certainly wouldn't disagree with that," MacKay said Thursday
when asked about Graham's analysis. "It could event be more."
MacKay has said he is remaining neutral in any possible battle for the
nomination. There could be one.
On Wednesday, Millionaire businessman B. Thomas Golisano, who ran
unsuccessfully for governor in 1994 and 1998 as the candidate of the
Independence Party, said he may run again.
"I'm sort of leaning on the side of doing it," Golisano said.
The Rochester-based businessman said he expected to make his decision
within a month.
Golisano said one reason for running is the growing belief that Pataki may
be close to sewing up the Independence Party nomination. Golisano
questioned Pataki's commitment to government reform issues dear to
Independence Party members.
Golisano is a founder of New York's Independence Party and is widely
credited with putting it on the political map.
Copyright (c) 2002, The Associated Press |
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