By Dan Murphy
A Zogby poll for NY Governor in February had democrat Kathy Hochul at 50%, republican Lee Zeldin at 29%, and Libertarian party candidate Larry Sharpe at 6%. We wondered who Larry Sharpe is and why he is running for Governor.
Larry Sharpe is a businessman, consultant, Marine Corps Veteran, Native New Yorker, and active member in the Libertarian Party. In 2016, Sharpe wanted to be the Libertarian Party nominee for vice-president. He lost the party nomination to Bill Weld.
In 2018 Sharpe ran as the Libertarian candidate for NY Governor, and received 95,033 votes, (1.6%). This total entitled Sharpe and the Libertarian Party automatic ballot access in NY for the next four years.
But in 2019 former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, angry at the Working Families Party for endorsing Cynthia Nixon for Governor, changed the election laws in NY to make it harder for minor parties like the Libertarian Party to stay on the ballot.
Last year, the Libertarian Party and three other minor parties lost their ballot status in NY. Sharpe is running for Governor of NY in 2022 but at the same time, working to collect the 45,000 signatures needed to run on the Libertarian Party line.
We spoke to Sharpe about his run for governor. “I’m running to show the people of New York that there is another option. We started this in 2018 and we got on the TV news shows, the Joe Rogan show, and made a real campaign. And to get 2% on the Libertarian Party line in NY, the deepest blue state, is amazing.
Now in 2022 the work continues. “We are a real third party. Most of the minor political parties are “puppet parties,” they follow the democrats or republicans. And while fewer and fewer people are registered democrat or republican, the Libertarians are growing.”
My campaign is traveling to every county in New York State. We are building a real party. In 2019 we elected libertarians across the state. The biggest win for Libertarians in New York State was when Michael Korchak was elected District Attorney of Broome County. “We have a DA in New York who is a libertarian. That used to be unheard of,” said Sharpe.
“Now they made it harder for us to run statewide. We now must collect 45,000 signature and we have to get 130,000 votes every two years. In 2018 I did what the state told me to do, we would give you ballot access for four years if you got more than 50,000 votes. The state said screw you and reneged on their agreement.”
“The decision to cancel our party resulted in disenfranchising registered libertarian voters. If you don’t like Larry Sharpe then don’t vote for me. But don’t put harm on thousands of New Yorkers who lost their party. We are the only political party that allows people from the left and right to come join us. We only ask that we don’t let government impose their views and leave us alone.
Sharpe recently picked up the endorsement of former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang and the Forward Party that he created.
Another small political party in NY, the UniteNY party, is also considering endorsing Sharpe, who is hoping to have three ballot lines in November, Libertarian, UniteNY, and Forward Party, but all three parties have to go out and get 45,000 signatures between April 19-May 24, to get on the ballot.
“I’m taking a year from my life to raise the money and get on the ballot. But for regular New Yorkers, how can they do this? Only the wealthy and the establishment can do it, and that’s the way they want it, an elitist system. And we have to raise and spend $150,000 to do it,” said Sharpe.
“If elected, I will change the rule overnight, and return to the old rules, they were good enough. I think what we have now is unconstitutional and embarrassing.
Sharpe supports three electoral reforms that he says, “will open up the election system in our state.”
- Easier Ballot Access
- Rank Choice Voting, where voters cast their vote for their preferred candidate, but also for their 2nd and 3rd choice.
- Open Primaries, where voters of any party can vote in any political party primary.
In New York, it’s 3 to 1 democrat, and in New York City its 6 to 1 democrat. That means that republican have a zero chance at winning statewide. It’s either a democrat or an outsider, and the states getting bluer. One million republicans went to Florida and turned Florida republican red.
I’m the outsider, and if you are a republican or a democrat you need to think about what it would take to vote for the other guy. And democrats won’t vote for a republican, but they would vote for me.
One hurdle that Sharpe knows that he has to overcome is, “A lot of people don’t want to vote for me because they think I can’t win. They think why waste my vote?
Sharpe said that his campaign strategy centers on preparing to be ready, “if Hochul stumbles, those pissed off democratic will never vote republican, but they would think about voting for me. And in a three-way race, you don’t need 51% you can win with 35%. That is possible.”
“And what if I come in 2nd? And beat the republican? Now I have the attention of the media and of New Yorkers and we can begin to talk about actual solutions to our problems. And I do have solutions, as opposed to republican who have no ideas and democrats who have bad ideas.”
Sharpe wants to cut property taxes in half by raising money to pay for schools in part by leasing naming rights to MTA properties, bridges and tolls. “Right now, neither side is offering solutions. It will only be when there is a viable third party that both sides will try again to help you and solve your problems.”
“I want to help the working poor, the middle class and the entrepreneurs. If we fix those three parts of our state, we can save our state.” Sharpe added, “I hope Andrew Cuomo runs because that hurts the democratic candidate. He will have to create his own party to run.”
Sharpe also distinguished himself from the other candidates by pointing out, “I’m the only candidate not getting a government check. I don’t have a government job or a government pension. Your tax dollars don’t pay a dime to me. I’m the only one suffering with you.
“I say to those New Yorkers who are pissed off at our government, come to me, I’m the anti-establishment candidate. I’m trying to make New York a better place,” visit LarrySharpe.com for more information.
