March 15, 2002
Albany - After eight years of fighting George Pataki, leaders of the influential Independence Party are abandoning their own flag-bearer and lining up behind the Republican governor.

Prominent members of the quirky political group that defined itself by
opposing Pataki are now embracing their former nemesis, promising to deliver an endorsement potentially worth hundreds of thousands of votes, even as B. Thomas Golisano, the Rochester businessman who put Independence on the political map, is balking at stepping aside.

A year of wooing by the governor and a promise to promote one of the party's headline causes - statewide voter initiatives and referenda - appear to have won over a majority of Independence leaders.

"There is tremendous support for the governor," said Cathy Stewart, an executive committee member and head of the party's Manhattan organization, who yesterday with two other committee members circulated a letter pushing Pataki's endorsement.

The party officially names its candidate in May and if Pataki is chosen he likely would have three of the first four ballot lines, Republican, Conservative and Independence, giving him considerable insulation against a Democratic challenger.

The dramatic about-face, by a party that Pataki previously fought to keep off the ballot and refused to debate, is opening a rift within the party that could jeopardize the new political alliance and the governor's attempts to cast himself as a reformer.

"Is this the same person that sued me six times to keep me off the ballot in 1994? Is this the same person that promised he'd only run for two terms? "Golisano said of Pataki. "This party was formed to create its own candidate and I think that should happen."

In 1998, Golisano spent $12.6 million and received 364,000 votes. A wealthy businessman, he has money to spend if he decides to run again. If party leaders back Pataki, he said, "then the fact of the matter is I want to have a primary and I'm willing to go that route."

He and other critics said the party is after political rewards by siding
with Pataki, who is well ahead of the two contenders for the Democratic nomination, Comptroller H. Carl McCall and former federal housing secretary Andrew Cuomo.

"I know what is going on inside the party and it is extremely disheartening," said Laureen Oliver, a founding Independence Party member and its first state chair.

"The party's name is Independence," said Oliver, the lieutenant governor candidate in 1998, "and it should always remain that."

Pataki and Independence leaders say their goals are now aligned, which they highlighted Tuesday when Independence Party chairman Frank MacKay and party officials joined the governor to announce his initiative and referendum plan.

MacKay, also the Suffolk County chairman, questioned the need for an internal Independence candidate with the governor so agreeable and popular. But he said, "we are very grateful for what Golisano has done."

Golisano's county chairman, Don Porto of Monroe County, was more blunt: "I'm not here to punch Tom in the face ... but we need to move on and right now it looks like backing the governor will help us do that."