Libertarian Larry Sharpe received enough votes in Tuesday’s New York gubernatorial race to keep the party’s status official on the ballot for the first time in state history, Syracuse.com reports.
Sharpe tallied 90,664 of the votes with 99 percent counted, well over the 50,000-threshold for a party to win an automatic ballot line for the next four years.
Andrew Cuomo won the race handily, besting Republican challenger Marc Molinaro, 59 to 36.8 percent.
“I want to thank each and every voter that voted for me,” Sharpe tweeted Tuesday after the polls closed. “You took a step towards liberty and freedom. I deeply appreciate each one of you.”
Sharpe during his campaign pushed to legalize weed, eliminate the state income tax and sever ties with the U.S. Department of Education.
The Libertarian Party, formed in 1971, is the third-largest political party in the United States after the Republican and Democratic parties.
Nationally, there are approximately 186 Libertarians holding elected offices, per the party: 56 partisan offices and 130 nonpartisan offices.
The Women’s Equality Party and the Reform Party, which were also looking to retain their status as a recognized party, fell well short of the 50,000 votes needed, while the Green Party garnered enough to stay on for another four years.
A recognized party can field statewide candidates for four years without petitioning, enjoys campaign fundraising perks and has a lower threshold for fielding legislative candidates.
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