New party lines premiering on LI ballots

Daily Point

Third-party candidates squeeze their way onto ballot with unusual names

Quirky and playful political party names are usually relegated to Long Island village elections. Remember Ocean Beach Village's "Stay-A-While Party"?

But this year, there are at least three candidates who managed to get on the November ballot with unusual names for unique political parties in elections larger than a village contest.

In Hempstead, where incumbent Republican Supervisor John Ferretti is facing a rematch from Democrat Joe Scianablo, former Lawrence Village Mayor Martin Oliner made himself the proverbial third wheel and possible spoiler. Oliner successfully mounted an independent campaign to get on the ballot under the banner "Citizens not Developers."

Oliner previously told The Point his campaign was centered on opposing overdevelopment in the Five Towns.

"The issue is a very hot issue in the neighborhood," he said. "My main focus is overdevelopment ... the community here is focused on this issue."

In Suffolk, a candidate for the 2nd Assembly District qualified for the November election not as a Republican or Democrat but under a new line called "Voter Options." Kimberly Wilder said online that she is running to give voters — you guessed it — options.

"Kimberly Wilder and her supporters want you to have a choice on the ballot!" reads an out-of-place post on the WordPress blog "Georgiana Circle," adding that Wilder "will be on the ballot as a progressive, as a true representative of The People, as the only real alternative to the incumbent Republican (Rep. Jodi Giglio)."

Turns out, the website is run by Wilder, who added a disclaimer at the end of the post saying she is using the old blog "to get some information up on the web about my current, political campaign ..."

Also on the ballot for AD2 is Democrat Michael Szika, who doesn't have campaign finance filings online with the New York State Board of Elections. Wilder raised $570, according to July 15 filings. Giglio reported having $20,100 in her campaign bank account.

And statewide, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is challenging Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul this November, successfully petitioned to be on an additional line. Blakeman will appear on the Republican and Conservative lines and a new line called "Vote Affordable Party."

We'll have to wait until Election Day to find out if Long Island's newest political parties garner more votes than Kanye West's "The Birthday Party" moniker during his ill-fated 2020 presidential run. Only 70,000 people voted for West, and just 1,897 in New York. 

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

Pencil Point

R you ready?

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Final Point

Labor unions' plea to fix the Oakdale Merge

It's a familiar scene to many Long Islanders.

A family, in a car, stuck in traffic at one of the Island's most infamous bottlenecks: the Oakdale Merge.

A new social media ad campaign, produced by Local 138 of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Laborers Local 1298, takes that scene and replicates it again, and again, using AI to represent generations of the same family enduring the same traffic in the same spot over the course of more than 40 years.

The ad's last scene shows a pregnant woman in labor.

"Dad, the contractions are speeding up," she says. "Are we going to have to call her Oakdale?"

A voice-over makes the point even more clear.

"Before another generation is born, let's put the promised money to work to finally fix the Oakdale Merge," it says.

Union officials said they are geotargeting the ad and plan to expand the campaign if needed. They want the work. 

"Fixing this traffic morass has been the subject of conversation, promises, studies, analysis and press releases since the Mets took the Red Sox in the '86 World Series," Local 138's business manager and treasurer, John Duffy, said in a statement.

But while the ad calls for fixing the beleaguered trouble spot, it doesn't specify to whom the message is directed: local, state or federal officials, or all the above.

Last year, after initially excluding the Oakdale Merge from its plans, the state Department of Transportation responded to local public pressure and eventually added Oakdale Merge roadway improvements to its Transportation Improvement Program, providing $395 million to the effort. That commitment comes from a mix of federal and state funds. But specifics on what work will be done — and when — have not been released.

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Subscribe to The Point here and browse past editions of The Point here.