An Open Letter
To
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Last year, you attempted to alter the city’s charter by appointing a Charter Commission to
study the implementation of non-partisan elections in the city of New York. Last year's
commission chose not to propose shifting to a non-partisan system, but recent news
reports suggest that you plan to pursue a similar commission in the coming weeks. We
call on you not to do so.
Non-partisan elections, while rhetorically attractive, actually undermine democratic
politics and the ability of our citizenry to participate fully and knowledgeably in the
electoral process. This is true for several reasons:
First, non-partisan elections are bad for lower-income voters, which in New York
City tends to mean African-American, Latino, and other of-color populations. A
party label sends a signal that offsets the information and resource disadvantages faced
by many lower income, minority or immigrant voters, who represent the majority of
people in New York City. Simply put, non-partisan elections dilute the electoral strength
of these groups. Statistics that cite the benefits of non-partisan elections for of-color
candidates are misleading, because they examine cities with predominately AfricanAmerican and Latino majorities. In these cases, of-color candidates benefit from
demographics, not from non-partisan elections. It is also troubling that in New York
City, your proposed move to non-partisan elections would occur just as of-color political
leaders have achieved significant political standing. The fact that people of color now
hold more City and Borough-wide offices than at any time in our history should not be
disregarded, and a move to non-partisan elections could undermine that progress.
Second, non-partisan elections depress voter turnout. Research indicates that one of
the best indicators of voter participation is partisanship. A lack of party identification
makes it more difficult for voters to keep track of candidates and reduces interest.
Researchers comparing partisan and non-partisan races for local and state office in
Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, North Carolina and Minnesota from the 1970’s to the 1990’s
found that non-partisan elections significantly depressed turnout because of lack of
information about the candidates. The data on this is not challenged by any reputable
political scientist. If one believes that higher turnout is a good idea, then non-partisan
elections fail a crucial test by which any "reform" must be measured.
Third, non-partisan elections favor incumbents or other candidates with name
recognition. Those who have the resources to buy name recognition through mass
advertising will overwhelm those without such resources. As money and media replace
parties as the mobilization vehicle that drives people to the polls, voters rely more on this
"purchased" name recognition and less on party labels that may clue them in to a
candidate’s agenda. Again, most political scientists agree with us in believing that strong
parties are good for democracy.
Finally, this issue could be a terribly divisive one, at a time when such division is
especially unwelcome. We have enormous problems in this city that you are trying to
deal with, and pursuing non-partisan elections at a time when we should be fighting to
keep our city livable will be politically and racially divisive. We believe that New York
City residents of all races would not welcome the rancor that would inevitably
accompany a Charter amendment campaign of the sort that you are considering.
For these reasons, we urge you to stop any effort to eliminate political parties from local
elections. Such a change would be disastrous for millions of New York City voters.
While we acknowledge that your support for non-partisan elections is rooted in a desire
to improve New York City governance, a deeper look suggests that it is not a worthwhile
charter revision.
Sincerely,
NYC Comptroller William Thompson
NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr.
Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall
Congressman Major Owens
Congressman Gregory W. Meeks
State Senate Minority Leader David A. Paterson
State Senator Carl Andrews
State Senator Martin M. Dilan
State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, Jr.
State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson
State Senator Liz Krueger
State Senator Seymour P. Lachman
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery
State Senator George Onorato
State Senator Kevin Parker
State Senator John Sampson
State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman
State Senator Ada L. Smith
State Senator Malcolm A. Smith
State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky
Assembly Deputy Speaker Clarence Norman, Jr.
Assembly Member Jeffrion L. Aubry
Assembly Member James F. Brennan
Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz
Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat
Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick
Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried
Assembly Member Roger L. Green
Assembly Member Aurelia Greene
Assembly Member Carl E. Heastie
Assembly Member Jeffrey Klein
Assembly Member Joan L. Millman
Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell
Assembly Member Jose Peralta
Assembly Member Nick Perry
Assembly Member Audrey I. Pheffer
Assembly Member Adam C. Powell, IV
Assembly Member Annette Robinson
Assembly Member Scott Stringer
Assembly Member William Scarborough
Assembly Member Darryl C. Towns
Assembly Member Keith L. Wright
NYC Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera
NYC Council Deputy Majority Leader William Perkins
Council Member Tony Avella
Council Member Charles Barron
Council Member Yvette D. Clarke
Council Member James Davis
Council Member Bill deBlasio
Council Member Erik Martin Dilan
Council Member Lew Fidler
Council Member Robert Jackson
Council Member Melinda Katz
Council Member John Liu
Council Member Miguel Martinez
Council Member Michael McMahon
Council Member Hiram Monserrate
Council Member Christine Quinn
Council Member Phil Reed
Council Member James Sanders, Jr.
Council Member David Yassky
Working Families Party
Arthur Cheliotes, President CWA 1180
Raglan George, Executive Director DC 1707, AFSCME
Bill Granfield, President HERE 100
Roger Toussaint, President TWU 100
Chris Silvera, Secretary/Treasurer IBT 808
Maureen McCarthy, President NYPNU
Santos Crespo, Vice President AFSCME DC 37 Local 372
Diane Savino, Vice President AFSCME DC 37 Local 371
Ralph Palladino, Vice President AFSCME DC 37 Local 1549
Juan Fernandez, President AFSCME DC 37 Local 154
Glen Huff, President AFSCME DC 1707 Local 205
UNITE
ACORN
Central Brooklyn Partnership
Citizen Action NY
Community Free Democrats
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
JUDAH International Christian Life Center
Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES)
LAMBDA Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
New York Jobs With Justice
NYC Aids Housing Network
New York Unemployment Project
Village Independent Democrats