By

• Paul Liotta | pliotta@siadvance.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island City Councilmember introduced legislation Thursday that would see political parties rendered irrelevant in the five borough’s municipal elections.

Under the legislation introduced by South Shore Republican Frank Morano, candidates for office like mayor, public advocate, borough president and City Council would appear on ballots without their political parties listed.

Municipal elections would also be conducted entirely on a ranked-choice basis similar to how primary and special elections are currently held.

“New York City is one of the most diverse cities in the world, yet we run our elections under a structure designed for a very different era,” Morano said. “Right now, a small slice of partisan primary voters effectively decide most offices, while independents and unaffiliated New Yorkers are shut out. That doesn’t strengthen democracy – it narrows it.”

The road to nonpartisan elections faces an uphill battle in New York City as local voters would need to approve that kind of change in a ballot referendum, similar to the one they voted for in 2019 paving the way for non-partisan ranked choice voting in special and primary elections.

Additionally, the city’s political establishment, particularly on the Democratic side, would oppose that kind of sweeping change as it would limit their power. Most citywide elections over the past 20 years have been effectively decided in the Democratic primaries.

Morano has yet to secure any co-sponsors for his bill. Democratic North Shore Councilmember Kamillah Hanks was unavailable for comment.

Councilmember David Carr, a Mid-Island Republican, expressed an openness to expanding ranked choice voting, but stopped short of non-partisan elections.

“I think we saw a lot of people in Staten Island and beyond struggle about to how to cast their vote for tactical reasons in this election cycle, and people should never have to fear ‘wasting’ their vote on someone they believe in. Expanding ranked-choice voting is something we need to give serious consideration as a City as we think about how we should choose our leaders in the future,” he said. “As far as nonpartisan elections are concerned, I am proud to have run under the banners of the Republican and Conservative Parties in the past, and the contrast between our common sense approach and the far-Left ideology of the DSA gives us an opportunity to make the strongest case to the City’s electorate that we have been able to make in a long time.”

Though a registered Republican, the South Shore councilmember has been a longtime advocate for election reforms and nonpartisan voting saying he believes they would help improve voter turnout and engagement.

He cruised to office in an April nonpartisan special election, and held the seat as a Republican in that party’s June primary and the November general election.

“This isn’t about helping one party or hurting another,” Morano said. “It’s about increasing turnout, rewarding coalition-building, and making sure elected officials represent the whole district — not just a small ideological faction."

Paul Liotta is the New York City Hall reporter for the Staten Island Advance covering the day-to-day happenings of Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council. In journalism for almost a decade, Liotta...