Note: New York had an abundance of presidential hopefuls.  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) is still competing for the Democratic nomination. >  Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) ended his campaign for the Republican nomination on Jan. 30, 2008. >  There was abundant speculation that current NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) might run as an Independent candidate; he ruled out a run on Feb. 28, 2008. >  Former Gov. George E. Pataki (R) considered a White House bid. >  Rev. Al Sharpton (D) was also mentioned a few times as a possible candidate in the pre-campaign period.

Setting the Primary Date
Leaders in the legislature acted to move the state's presidential primary from March 4 to February 5 to help home-state candidates Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R).  On March 7, 2007 they introduced S.3544/A.6430, to move the spring primary (held in presidential years for electing delegates to the national conventions) from the first Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February (the regular primary will still be held on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in September).

According to the justification for the Assembly bill, "Numerous states have moved, or are considering moving, their presidential primary to an earlier date.  Specifically, other influential states that have similar demographic profiles and similar public-policy issues to New York State`s are contemplating shifting their primaries to February 5.  A similar change will give New Yorkers an early voice in the selection of the best presidential candidates for the state and the nation and will reflect New York`s impact on and importance to our nation."

The bill passed both Houses of the State Legislature on March 21, 2007.  Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) signed it into law on April 9 stating, “Moving the primary date to February, we will help secure New York’s large and diverse population an influential voice in selecting the 2008 presidential nominees."
 

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Bush/Cheney (Rep./Cons'v) 2,962,567 (40.08) +Kerry/Edwards (Dem./WF) 4,314,280 (58.37) Nader* (Ind'pce/P&J) 99,873 (1.35) Calero/Hawkins (SWP) 2,405 (0.03) Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 11,607 (0.16) Write In Candidates (5) 517 - Total........7,391,249 *Nader/Pierce (Independence): 84,247 and Nader/Camejo (Peace And Justice): 15,626 Write Ins: David Cobb (138), Michael Halpin (4), John Joseph Kennedy (8), Michael A. Peroutka (363), Bill Van Auken (4) Total incl. 57,017 Blank, Void, Scattering: 7,448,266 4,988,613 votes (67.0%) were cast in counties outside NYC and  2,459,653 votes (33.0%) were cast in NYC.

2004 Overview Kerry finished with a plurality of 1,351,713 votes (18.29 percentage points).  Outside of NYC Kerry outpolled Bush 2,486,265 to 2,375,033.  In NYC Kerry won with a plurality of 1.24 million votes (1,828,015 to 587,534). Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04 General Election Details

(State Primary: September 14, 2004 )
 

Past Results

1996 Clinton (D/L)...........3,756,177 (59.47) Dole (R/C/F)...........1,933,492 (30.61) Perot (Ind.)................503,458  (7.97) Nader (Grn.)................75,956 (1.20) Others (5)...................47,046 (0.75) Blank/Scat................123,000 Total........6,439,129 1992 Clinton (D/L)...........3,444,450 (49.72) Bush (R/C/RtL.)......2,346,649 (33.88) Perot (NoPty).........1,090,721  (15.75) Others (4+w/ins).........45,113 (0.65) Total........6,926,933	2000 Bush/Cheney (Rep./Cons'v) 2,403,374 (35.23) +Gore/Lieberman (Dem/Lib'l/WF) 4,107,697 (60.21) Hagelin/Goldhaber (Indp'ce) 24,361 (0.36) Buchanan/Foster (RtL/BuchRef) 31,599 (0.46) Nader/LaDuke (Grn.) 244,030 (3.58) Phillips/Frazier (Const.) 1,498 (0.02) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 7,649 (0.11) Harris/Trowe (SWP) 1,789 (0.03) Official Write Ins (5) 2 -  Total........6,821,999 Total incl. 138,216 Blank, Void, Scattering: 6,960,215 4,691,713 votes (67.4%) were cast in counties outside NYC and  2,268,502 votes (32.6%) were cast in NYC.	2000 Overview The presidential outcome was essentially a foregone conclusion. Statewide, Gore's plurality was 1,704,323 votes (24.98 percentage points). Outside New York City Bush carried 36 counties to 21 for Gore; Gore carried all five boroughs in NYC.  Outside of NYC Gore outpolled Bush 2,404,333 to 2,004,648.  In NYC Gore won with a plurality of about 1.3 million votes (1,703,364 to 398,726). In the really big race, the U.S. Senate campaign, Rick Lazio spent $40.1 million and Hillary Rodham Clinton spent $29.3 million. General Election Activity

Ballot qualifying for the presidential primary  is done through petitioning by congressional district.

• 5,000 signatures are required to place the name of a presidential candidate on the state-wide ballot.

• Fewer the 1,000 signatures are required to place the names of delegates and alternates on the ballot in each of the 29 congressional districts. Details

• Petitions may be circulated starting November 26, 2003 and must be filed between December 29, 2003 and January 2, 2004.

• No fee to participate.

"The Democratic Presidential Primary is really a 'dual primary.'  Candidates for president run against each other in a statewide primary, and delegates and alternate delegates run in each congressional district."

284 Delegates and 41 Alternates.  This is the second largest delegation to the Democratic National Convention.
 

2004 page >
2000 page >

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.