Any candidate not among the six qualified New York parties (Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Green, Independence and Working Families) must petition their way onto the ballot; they do not face primary elections. Independent nominating petitions began collecting signatures on July 8 and were due to the state by August 19.
Libertarian The
Libertarian Party of New York held its nominating convention on April 26, 2014. The nominating process required five rounds of voting, after which Michael McDermott was nominated.
Candidates Nominee • Michael McDermott, real estate broker and nominee for
New York's 3rd congressional district in
2012 Unsuccessful • Richard Cooper, resident of
Westbury •
Randy Credico, comedian, activist, Libertarian nominee for the U.S. Senate
in 2010 and Tax Wall Street nominee for
Mayor of New York City in
2013 Cohn is the only candidate on the ballot who did not participate in the lone gubernatorial debate.
Stop Common Core The "Stop
Common Core Party" (renamed after the election to the
Reform Party) is a
single-issue ballot line conceived by Republican nominee
Rob Astorino.
Nominee •
Rob Astorino, Republican nominee
Women's Equality The
Women's Equality Party is a political party created by Gov.
Andrew Cuomo and his allies. The Party was designed to take advantage of New York's
electoral fusion laws, which allow candidates to appear on multiple parties' lines in the same election. The Party is named after the Women's Equality Act, a bill that failed in the New York State Senate in 2013 and 2014 due to a stalemate over an abortion rights provision in the bill. The formation of the Party was particularly controversial among feminists (particularly
Zephyr Teachout, Cuomo's primary opponent) and was noted for its use of questionable campaign imagery, particularly a tour bus that bore a striking resemblance to a box of
Tampax tampons. Additionally, the Working Families Party asserted that the formation of the Women's Equality Party was an attempt to undermine the WFP as a viable party in New York politics.
Nominee •
Andrew Cuomo, incumbent governor
Failed to make ballot •
Socialist Workers Party: For the second straight election, the Socialist Workers Party waged a
write-in candidacy for the governor's seat, with John Studer as the nominee. •
Constitution Party: Donna Mulvihill, a homeschooling activist from Honeoye Lake, sought petitions to run for governor on the Constitution Party line before abruptly withdrawing from the race the day before petitions were due, citing her father's death. This is the second consecutive election in which the party has failed to collect enough signatures for governor. • Life and Justice Party: Disability rights activist Michael Carey submitted petitions to form a Life and Justice Party with himself as the gubernatorial candidate and with Republican lieutenant governor nominee Chris Moss listed as his running mate. Moss did not accept his designation as the lieutenant governor candidate on the Life and Justice line. The petitions were later ruled invalid. •
Rent Is Too Damn High Party: Perennial candidate
Jimmy McMillan made a fourth attempt at running for governor on his self-created line, with Christialle Felix as his running mate. His petitions were later challenged and invalidated after it was discovered McMillan had photocopied many of the petitions to give the appearance of more signatures. ==General election==