Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner Running for Governor as Independent
By Taylor Lang – Syracuse, N.Y (CitrusTV) – Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner announced her bid for New York governor Monday—as an Independent rather than a Democrat.
Miner has been a frequent critic of current Governor Andrew Cuomo for more than five years. Cuomo appointed her as a chairwoman of the State Democratic Party during his first term as governor, but they began to fight over economics starting in 2013, according to a NY Times article. Since then, Miner has continued to critique Cuomo on his policies and ethics.
“Mayor Stephanie Miner has been an outspoken critic of Andrew Cuomo’s reckless administration of this state,” Republican nominee Marcus Molinaro said in a statement following the announcement, “and I welcome her into the governor’s race.”
Miner has talked about running for other political office over the past year. She announced she was not running for Congress last fall, but then started to reconsider it. She decided in January that she would definitely not run, but did not put down the idea of trying for a different political position.
Many of her followers thought she would announce her run back in April, when she changed her “Miner for Mayor” account to “Miner for NY.” Her tweet explains the change as “an administrative action that will allow [her] to continue to engage New Yorkers on issues that matter.”
But it was not until more than two months later that Miner tweeted to announce her run for governor.
“The price of politics as usual and the cost of corruption is weighing us all down,” she tweeted. “That’s why I’m running for Governor – not as a Democrat, not as a Republican, but as a citizen of New York. Join me and let’s build a better NY together.”
Miner is running as an Independent under the banner of the Serve America Movement, which is a new group that calls itself SAM. She will be their first candidate, although the movement is seeking a presence on ballots across the nation.
SAM was officially founded in April of 2017, and is based out of Denver, Colorado. Their mission statement is to “build a new political party for a new American majority.” This includes:
- Investing in health care, education, and infrastructure
- Using science and facts to guide environmental policy
- Ending mass incarceration
- Ensuring fair access to voting
- Disrupting the “political status quo”
- Free trade, free markets, and fiscal responsibility
- Building a new party that is not Republican or Democrat
- Gaining permanent ballots in all 50 states
If Miner receives 50,000 votes during the general election in November, SAM will be permanently on the ballot for the next four years.
The Libertarian Party is also trying to get on the ballot with Larry Sharpe.
The other third-party candidate is Howie Hawkins, who is running with the Green Party.
The Republican Party unanimously nominated Marcus Molinaro on May 23 as its candidate for the election.
On the Democratic ballot for governor is the incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo. Former Sex and the City Actress Cynthia Nixon did not meet the required 25 percent delegate threshold, but announced she will try to petition her way onto the Democratic primary ballot.
The gubernatorial primaries will be on September 13 of this year and the election will follow for New York State governor on November 6.
