New York Independence Party Court of Appeals Case

If you read The Hankster or Ballot Access News, you may have noticed that the New York State Court of Appeals in an unusual move has agreed to hear a case between the New York City organization of the New York Independence Party and State Chair Frank MacKay [Conroy et al v State Committee The Independence Party et al]. MacKay has been on a two-year campaign to take control of locally elected county organizations in the city of New York and to overrule county committee members' choices for county endorsements.

The Court has also agreed to hear Master v Pohanka. This case concerns a dispute between the state organization of the Working Families Party, and the Suffolk County Working Families Party. The issue is whether a state party may have a bylaw taking power over nominations away from the county party and placing it in the hands of the state party.

Here's an interesting item today's Newsday's Spin Cycle saying that Anthony Manetta, head of Roosevelt Strategies, who switched from Conservative to Independence last week, "raised $80,000 for the Independence Party this year, which never before raised more than $25,000 annually — thus allowing MacKay to draw a $70,000-a-year salary...."

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