ALBANY, N.Y. – New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino announced yesterday that he launched an effort for a new ballot line called “Stop Common Core.”

PressConnects.com has more:

Astorino will look to get 15,000 petition signatures to get the third-party line on the November ballot. It would give the Westchester County executive three lines on the November ballot, along with the Republican and Conservative parties’ lines.

He said the line would help his candidacy, but also give voters an opportunity to protest the testing standards at the ballot box. He has until Aug. 19 to file the petition signatures.

“This is an opportunity for people to either make a statement or to truly vote for me — either one,” Astorino said at a news conference in Albany.

New York, as a friend explained to me yesterday in an email, allows candidates to appear multiple times on a ballot provided they meet the criteria.  This of course helps candidates pick up more votes… I may not want to vote for that Republican, but Stop Common Core – I’ll vote for that.

Considering the angst New York parents feel about the Common Core and its aligned assessments this could be a savvy political move.  At least 30,000 opted their children out of New York’s Common Core aligned assessments (not counting New York City).  Their tests according to some school administrators are failing. Only 23% of upstate New Yorkers support the standards.  If he succeeds in putting this on the ballot it will be interesting to see how many votes “Stop Common Core” receives.

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Authored by Shane Vander Hart