What's in a name: The power of fusion politics in a local election

New York State allows minor parties to cross-endorse major party candidates, who can add their votes on multiple party lines to their overall total. In a recent special election to fill a seat in the Nassau County legislature, the winning candidate received 48.5 percent of the vote on the Democratic line, 4.9 percent of the vote on the Working Families Party (WFP) line, and 4.6 percent on the lines of other minor parties. We find that the WFP votes were additional votes for the candidate, and not simply displaced Democratic votes. However, there is not much evidence that votes on the other minor party lines were new votes. We conclude that New York's minor parties have less ability to act as "spoilers" than is commonly believed, and that fusion laws and grassroots campaigning can increase turnout.