Conservative Party of New York State

The Conservative Party of New York State was founded in 1962 by a small group that included the conservative Charles Edison, the former governor of New Jersey and the son of the prolific inventor Thomas Edison. The party was founded to provide an alternative to the three existing liberal political parties in New York, which included the Rockefeller-controlled Republican Party.

In 1970, the Conservative Party had widespread success, electing James L. Buckley to the U. S. Senate, William Carney to the House of Representatives, Rosemary R. Gunning and Charles Jerabec to the State Assembly, and Serphin R. Maltese to the State Senate.

In 1994 the Conservative Party provided the margin of victory to Governor George E. Pataki, giving him 326,605 votes cast on the Conservative Party line. That total grew to 348,272 votes for Governor George E. Pataki on the Conservative Party line in 1998, helping him win again.

The Conservative Party helped pass term limits and helped defeat the $2.4 billion School Bond Act in 1997, despite being outspent by a 6 to 1 margin.

In 2001, the Conservative Party Executive Vice Chairman James P. Molinaro won as the Borough President of Staten Island, and was reelected in 2005.

Doug Hoffman is running in the special election for New York Congressional seat 23 in 2009, and has received the endorsement of numerous conservate and Republican leaders.

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