The New York City organizations of the Independence Party set out 15 years ago with a simple idea: To create a new and independent reform movement of New Yorkers from all walks of life. Partisan politics holds back positive development in our city. It’s that simple. We are a new kind of minor party that is genuinely independent, built from the bottom up and not tied to the Democratic and Republican parties (which the other minor parties are, big time!).
The Independence Party has over 100,000 members in New York City. Nearly 5,000 of them have joined local county committees in all five NYC boroughs, the governing bodies of the organization. Thousands more sign petitions, volunteer, and play a role in the Independence Party’s many campaigns for political reform.
We support political reforms that bring the one million New York independents into the heart of the political process. Initiatives like nonpartisan municipal elections, seating independents on the Board of Elections, separating party interest from the public interest, and making sure that good policy, rather than partisan politics, guides the running of this city – are the core principles of our independent movement.
We have worked to build a new electoral coalition in New York City, the Black and Independent Alliance, which took center stage in 2005 when 47% of African American voters and 65% of independent voters gave their support to the Independence Party’s mayoral candidate, Mike Bloomberg, in his re-election bid. We’ve partnered with Mike Bloomberg since 2001, when the votes on our line gave him his first margin of victory. In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg became an independent himself and we believe he has governed our city in a nonpartisan fashion. In 2009 the Independence Party received 150,000 votes on our line for Mayor Bloomberg, a record breaking number for a minor party.
New Yorkers now have an independent option. The New York City Independence Party believes in change and community. We need to change the culture of New York politics so that it is grounded in genuine civic debate that includes and empowers all New Yorkers. And it is by building a new community of independents from the bottom up that we can effect that change.
