US Senate hopeful David Malpass says he will not remain on the independent line his fellow Republican, Carl Paladino, plans to create if he loses the GOP primary to Bruce Blakeman in September.

“The Taxpayer line is not about personalities; it’s not about me or any other personality,” Malpass told YNN’s Helen Moore during a campaign stop in Rochester earlier today.

“It’s about the people of New York who want fundamental change, and I’m very pleased to be finding that added outlet for people to vote in addition to the Republican party line.

“…I’m planning to win the GOP primary election on September 14th. People should vote for David Malpass. I’m the one that can bring less spending, less taxes for New Yorkers.”

“In a purely hypothetical if I lost, what I want to do is unify the people in New York who want fundamental change in Washington. I won’t be on the Taxpayer line in that event.”


Paladino is attempting to petition his way into the GOP gubernatorial primary against the party’s designee, Rick Lazio, and also plans to petition to create an independent “Taxpayers” line to run on in November.

(Paladino bristled at the suggestion that this is actually an attempt to create a new party, insisting he’s merely giving voice to the Tea Party movement, not trying to codify it).

The Buffalo businessman said yesterday he’ll be joined on the new line by his LG running mate, former NYC Council Minority Leader Tom Ognibene, along with Malpass and another GOP US Senate candidate, Gary Bernsten, who is running in a GOP primary against Jay Townsend to take on Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer in the general election.

A reader wrote in yesterday to answer my question about how candidates can get off independent lines, informing me (by the way, Liz wrote this, not Mike; sorry for the confusion):

“This is how the Independence Party was ‘born’ in 1994.

“Rosenbaum vacated the ‘Big Apple’ Party line after losing to Pataki in a primary. The Committee to Fill Vacancies put Tom Golisano on the line, and he got more than 50,000 votes there. He then changed the name of the Party to “Independence” after that.

There is a mechanism in the Election Law for this for statewide candidates only.”

“

Share|