Laureen Oliver is a US politician who co-founded the New York State Independence Party.

Career

In 1992, Oliver co-founded the New York State Independence Party with B. Thomas Golisano. Prior to the Independence Party, Oliver served as the Monroe County Chairwoman of

United We Stand America United We Stand America was the name selected by Texas businessman Ross Perot, H. Ross Perot for his citizen action organization after his 1992 independent political campaign for President of the United States. Perot's 19% showing in the U.S. pres ...

. Oliver served as Founding State Chairwoman of the Independence Party from 1993 to 1998. As Founding State Chairwoman, she organized the state party in almost all the counties in the state. Under her tenure, the party grew from nothing to one of the most successful and largest third parties in the country. The Independence Party was a fiscally conservative and socially moderate political party. She also served as Tom Golisano's Campaign Chairwoman in his 1994, 1998 and 2002 gubernatorial bids. In 2002, Golisano's bid for governor of New York was ranked as the most expensive race in the U.S. and Golisano being the leader in the most personally-funded U.S.campaigns. Golisano spent almost $85 million of his own money. She also served as a national delegate to the Reform Party and was fundamentally responsible for the Reform Party gaining recognition by the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

. She is widely recognized for being the most named person in election lawsuits in the United States. After leaving the state, she went on to serve in campaigns in numerous other states as a

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

expert. Today she is still considered one the country's most informed ballot access experts. In 1994, she was the party's nominee for comptroller of New York State. In 1998, she was the running mate of B. Thomas Golisano for lieutenant governor. The Golisano/Oliver ticket finished third, behind the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket of Gov.

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

and Judge

Mary Donohue Mary O'Connor Donohue (born March 22, 1947) is an American retired educator, attorney, politician and Judge of the New York Court of Claims and a former two-term Lieutenant Governor of New York. Donohue was first elected Lieutenant Governor in ...

and the Democratic ticket of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Council Speaker Peter Vallone and Brighton Town Supervisor Sandra Frankel. In 1996, she served on Governor Lamm's presidential committee and nominated him at the 1996 Reform Party's National Convention in Long Beach, California. In 2009, she became the National Chairwoman to Support Popular Vote, a heavily-funded national lobbyist organization backed by Tom Golisano. Today she remains the closest and longest political advisor to Tom Golisano. 2002 Results for New York Governor and Lieutenant Governor *

and

(R-C) (inc.), 49% *

Carl McCall Herman Carl McCall (born October 17, 1935) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. A former New York State Comptroller and New York State Senator, McCall was the Democratic candidate for Governor of New York in 2002. McCall was the ...

and Dennis Mehiel (D-WF), 33% *

Tom Golisano Blase Thomas Golisano (born November 14, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of Paychex, which offers payroll and human resources services to businesses. Golisano owned Greenlight Networks, a fiber ...

and Donohue (I), 14% 1998 Results for New York Governor and Lieutenant Governor *

and

(R-C) (inc.), 54% * Peter Vallone and Sandra Frankel (D-WF), 33% *

and Laureen Oliver (I), 8% *

Betsy McCaughey Ross Elizabeth Helen McCaughey (; née Peterken; born October 20, 1948), formerly known as Betsy McCaughey Ross, is an American politician who was the Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1995 to 1998, during the first term of Governor George Pataki ...

and Jonathan C. Reiter (L), 1.4% 1994 Race for New York Comptroller *

(D-L), 45.15% *Herbert London (R-C-RTL), 40.48% *Laureen Oliver (I), 1%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Laureen Women in New York (state) politics Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women