for President and Sarah Palin for Vice President. They received 163,973 votes on the Independence Party line, compared to 170,475 on the Conservative Party line and 2,418,323 on the Republican Party line. On April 5, 2009, the Independence Party endorsed Michael Bloomberg for Mayor of New York City. In September 2009, Assemblyman Fred Thiele switched parties from the Republican Party to the Independence Party. Investigation On February 18, 2011, the Independence Party's assets were frozen as a result of an investigation into the theft of $1.2 million from the campaign of Michael Bloomberg, which ended up in the Independence Party's accounts. Fred Newman died on July 3 of that year. Johnson The Independence Party endorsed Gary Johnson in the 2016 presidential election, cross-endorsing with the Libertarian Party of New York. Notably, the Independence Party endorsed Johnson over Republican Party nominee Donald Trump, who (during his 2000 campaign for the Reform Party nomination) had previously been a member of the Independence Party. Johnson received 119,160 votes on the Independence Party line and 57,438 votes on the Libertarian Party line. Pierce The Independence Party endorsed entrepreneur and independent candidate Brock Pierce in the 2020 presidential election. Mayor of Syracuse Ben Walsh, despite coming from a family of prominent Republicans refused to affiliate with the Republican Party when he turned eighteen and, when he chose to run for Mayor of Syracuse in 2017, did so on two minor party lines, the Independence Party of New York and Reform Party of New York State; in what was generally seen as an upset, Ben Walsh defeated Democratic Party front runner Juanita Perez Williams. Andrew Cuomo Democrat Andrew M. Cuomo, son of former Governor Mario Cuomo and First Lady Matilda Cuomo, won his own third term as Governor of New York post his father's passing in 2015. Certified election results by county and party below, including the Independence endorsement and the new Women's Equality Party. Alliance Party The Independence Party was affiliated with the Alliance Party in 2020. In 2021, both the Alliance Party and the Independence Party agreed to disaffiliation, but stated that they still intend to work with each other. Platform and candidates The Independence Party's platform is somewhat ambiguous. The party itself is designed to draw independent voters and allows non-affiliated voters to vote in its primary elections, the only significant party in New York State to do so. Current New York State