Minor party candidates draw few voters

The Rent Is 2 Damn High party got votes that were just too darn low for fringe candidate Jimmy McMillan to stay on future ballots.

The colorful gubernatorial candidate, whose platform of a rent freeze and reduction as well as his signature white muttonchops, beard and black gloves, made him a popular character in the campaign, came in fifth, pulling in just 1 percent of the 4.1 million votes cast or 39,850, according to the unofficial tally by the state Board of Elections.

He beat out former madam Kristin Davis of the Anti-Prohibition Party and Charles Barron of the Freedom Party. Winner Andrew Cuomo got 2.5 million votes.

In the city, where lots of folks will tell you the rents are too damn high, McMillan fared slightly better, coming in fourth in the unofficial tally. McMillan got 12,702 city voters, about 1.1 percent of the city total of 1,145,826.

Because he didn't get at least 50,000 votes, McMillan and his party won't automatically get a position on the next gubernatorial ballot, said a spokesman for the state Board of Elections. That means McMillan would have to get 15,000 signatures statewide in order to get on the ballot then, said the spokesman.

But McMillan wasn't daunted by his showing. The votes he pulled, even though minuscule, he said, showed somebody was listening to his mantra "rent is too damn high."

"I've been saying this for years and people finally listened," McMillan told The Associated Press. "Because of that, I can't quit now."

McMillan didn't return several telephone calls and e-mails seeking a comment Wednesday.

Doug Muzzio, a political-science professor at Baruch College, said McMillan shouldn't get his hopes up.

"His impact was entirely entertainment value and that was essentially it," Muzzio said.

Asked about McMillan's future political impact: "None," answered Muzzio.

But if McMillan, a Vietnam War vet from Brooklyn who one pundit said was a cross between Isaac Hayes and Hulk Hogan, didn't cause a groundswell among voters, he became a likable and marketable character nonetheless.

He had many media interview requests, as well as a doll crafted in his image.

Vote totals for minor party candidates for governor

Here's how the minor party gubernatorial candidates fared (with 97% of vote tallied):

- Howie Hawkins, Green Party, 57,092 votes (1%)

- Warren Redlich, Libertarian, 44,824 (1%)

- Jimmy McMillan, Rent Too High, 39,939 (1%)

- Kristin Davis, Anti-Prohibition, 22,879 (1%)

- Charles Barron, Freedom, 20,775 (1%)