The Conservative Party

of New York State

A Short History of the Conservative Party

The Conservative Party was formed in 1962 to restore a meaningful choice to the voters of New York State.  At that time, the three existing political parties espoused the doctrinaire liberal philosophy of the welfare state at home and the collectivist ideology abroad.  In just four short decades, the party has grown from a small band of conservative-minded men and women to a statewide organization of almost 170,000 individuals dedicated to the traditional American values of individual freedom, individual responsibility and individual effort.

            From a humble beginning garnering 141,000 votes on ballot Row F, our principles have attracted Empire State voters in sufficient numbers to raise the Party to Row C and twice received over a million votes for our candidate in a statewide election.  From the founding of the party, it has been successively chaired by Kieran O’Doherty, J. Daniel Mahoney, Serphin R. Maltese and Michael R. Long.  Through the leadership of these men and the hard work of committee members, the Conservative Party elected James L. Buckley to the U. S. Senate, William Carney to the House of Representatives, Serphin R. Maltese to the State Senate, Rosemary R. Gunning and Charles Jerabec to the State Assembly, and numerous county, city, town and village offices.

The 1994 elections were a breakthrough for the Conservative Party as we provided the margin of victory for Governor George E. Pataki with the 326,605 votes cast on our line.  Attorney General Vacco nosed out radical Karen Burstein by 88,340 votes.  He received 305,961 votes on the Conservative Line.  In 1998, 348,272 votes for Governor George E. Pataki were cast on the Conservative line, almost 20,000 more than in 1994, an anomaly in political history.

In the past 44 years, the Conservative Party has played many pivotal rolls in electing officials from Supreme Court Justices to Town Justices, County Executives to Village Board Members, City Council Members to Ward Leaders, and will continue to play a pivotal role in the process of electing those who are committed to conservative values.

            Our strong support of term limits was instrumental when New York City voters went to the polls in November and defeated proposed changes to the term limits for the offices of Mayor and the City Council previously enacted.

In 1997, the Conservative Party led the citizens of New York in defeating the $2.4 billion School Bond Act.  Liberals outspent us 6 to 1 in trying to pass what would have been nothing more that a colossal waste of taxpayer money.  And, we defeated the proposal for a Constitutional Convention.  In the year 2000, we were instrumental in defeating the most expensive transportation bond issues ever placed on the ballot.  In November 2003, we were instrumental in defeating the "non-partisan election" ballot question in New York City and the raising of the debt limit for small city school districts.  In 2005, we led the way to defeat the ill-conceived “Power Grab” by Albany’s legislators.

           History was made in New York City with the 2001 election of Conservative Party Executive Vice Chairman James P. Molinaro as the Borough President of Staten Island and his reelection in 2005.

         The 2007-2008 Legislature includes 33 State Senators and 43 Assembly Members with Conservative Party designation.  The 110^th Congress includes 7 representatives from New York State who hold Conservative designation. 

            The Conservative Party has proudly endorsed President George W. Bush in both his 2000 and 2004 election efforts.

            Statewide the Party has forged strong links to the Republicans and Democrats of compatible views and has played a key role in halting the leftward drift of Empire State Government.  On the national level, we are affiliated with the American Conservative Union.  Although we are not formally affiliated with any other national conservative organization, we are recognized as the influential New York branch of the American conservative movement and maintain a close and cordial relationship with conservative organizations and public officials both in other states and Washington, D.C.

            President Ronald Reagan stated:  “The Conservative Party has established itself as a preeminent force in New York Politics and an important part of our political history.”

With your help, the Conservative Party will continue its vital role in reshaping the political agenda of the State and Nation.

 Adopted 01/05/08