INDEPENDENCE PARTY BREAKS RECORDS; 142,817 VOTES FOR BLOOMBERG ON COLUMN C
CITY’S FIRST INDEPENDENT MAYOR
New York, NY—The Independence Party vote for Mike Bloomberg yesterday broke
numerous records and re-enforced its ongoing mandate for independent governance
and non-partisan reform.
Unofficial returns released by the Board of Elections put the IP total on Column “C”
at 142,817 votes, nearly 26% of Bloomberg’s total and 13% of all votes cast. This
means that 1 in 4 Bloomberg voters chose to vote on the Independence Party line.
The vote for the mayor on the Independence Party line was an increase of 91%
over its total four years ago, when it drew nearly 75,000 votes on its crucial Column “C”.
Jacqueline Salit, who has run all three IP campaigns for Bloomberg stated:
“The Independence Party’s 143,000 votes grows out of the strength of our
grassroots organization, the popularity of political independence as a new
option and a longstanding partnership with our independent mayor, Mike
Bloomberg. This record breaking vote makes plain our growth and our role
in the emerging shift in New York City politics. We’re a new kind of minor
party with an agenda for non-partisan reform. We have a broad and
diverse base of support. We gave Mike his margin in a close race. And
we made history by electing the city’s first independent mayor.”
In three consecutive elections, under varying circumstances, the Independence
Party has made its mark on the NYC mayoral. In 2001, its 59,091 votes gave
Bloomberg his margin over Democrat Mark Green, who lost by 35,000 votes. In 2005,
the IP vote for Bloomberg grew by 26%, making it the only political party to demonstrate
growth at the polls that year. This year, the IP delivered 13% of the total votes cast—
the largest percentage ever—by a minor party for a cross-endorsed mayoral candidate.
For the last 20 years, other minor parties polled between 32,551 (the Working
Families Party vote for Mark Green in 2001) and 62,469 (the Liberal Party vote for Rudy
Giuliani in 1993).