Democratic leaders in New York are worried voters will run away from the party, especially in the suburbs, so much so that Gov. Kathy Hochul is embracing the state party chairman’s idea to create a third party line for embattled Democrats to run on. 

“You know it’s certainly in the early stages of consideration, but you know, you want to make sure you have all the options out there, to make sure that you have a level playing field, you have more lines you have to make sure you’re competitive,” Hochul said Monday when asked her opinion of party chairman Jay Jacobs’ recent proposal. 

She added: “This is about winning in November.” 

The move would give Hochul – and other Democrats – at least two ballot lines on which to run should she win the primary. 

New York is one of the few states that still permits the practice – called fusion voting – which lets candidates pool votes on multiple lines. Hochul also said she’d accept the more left-leaning Working Families Party if she’s victorious. 

The WFP has already backed progressive New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in the Democratic primary, although Hochul is the party’s preferred nominee and she is leading by a big margin over Williams in recent polls. 

Jacobs’ scheme follows the poor showing of Democrats during last November’s elections when the party lost several races on Long Island. Plus, there were more Republican pick-ups in the left-leaning NYC Council. 

Republicans ran on a tough-on-crime agenda — something Hochul pressed fellow Democratic leaders n the state Legislature to focus on in the recently passed fiscal year 2023 state budget, making tweaks to the state’s controversial bail reform law.

“You’ve seen this happen over and over again – it’s an old trick,” said Bill Hammond, of the conservative-leaning think-tank, the Empire Center for Public Policy.

In 2014, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo famously created the “Women’s Equality Party,” as did his father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo during his failed 1977 mayoral bid when he formed the Liberal Party line after losing the Democratic primary.

Republicans and Democrats alike have also used the Reform Party or Independence Party line as political insurance. 

“If Democrats were nervous people wouldn’t vote for them – the same for Republicans –they would run on the Independence Party line and they could pick up votes that way.”

But Hammond said what makes this unusual is the fact that Jacobs and Hochul – the de facto leaders of the New York Democrats – are actively encouraging the new party’s formation.

“Usually it’s the candidates that set up these parties, but what’s really strange to me is you have the top official of one party actively working to create a rival party. It’s sort of symbolic of how parties don’t mean what they used to mean, it’s more a convenient vehicle to win office,” he said.

Longtime political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said it’s ironic that Jacobs is now trying to work out a new line, especially as in 2019 he – and Cuomo – backed a measure that made it harder for third parties to gain ballot status thanks to Cuomo’s ongoing feud with the WFP.

“Jay Jacobs tried to get rid of all the small parties,” he said.

Political parties have to score at least 130,000 votes in a statewide general election to stay on the ballot, thanks to a provision tucked into the 2020 budget.

“He tainted them with the smell of corruption and now he’s saying it’s a good thing for them to do because practically, it’s a way for them to try and offset the conservative party in a general election for the governor,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cuomo is flirting with the idea of running as an independent, sources have speculated, which could potentially complicate a win by Hochul in November’s general election.

But recent polling has shown New Yorkers do not want Cuomo to re-enter public life after he resigned in August under threat of impeachment following the release of a bombshell report that concluded he sexually harassed multiple women.

And Democrats could be in trouble on the national level as the GOP is poised to flip the US House.