Alex Merced
Alex Merced is a candidate for city comptroller of New York, New York.[1] He is running in the general election on November 7, 2017.
Merced was also a 2013 candidate for public advocate of New York City and a 2016 Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate from New York.[2][3][4]
Biography
Merced earned a B.A. in popular culture studies with a minor in marketing from Bowling Green State University. His experience includes work as the web chair of the Brooklyn Libertarian Party, the co-media chair of the Manhattan Libertarian Party, and the founder of the social media marketing consulting firm Merliva LLC and the website LibertarianWingMedia.com.[3][4]
Elections
2017
New York City held elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, and all 51 seats on the city council in 2017. New Yorkers also voted for offices in their boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
Primary elections were scheduled for September 12, 2017, and the general election was on November 7, 2017. Under New York law, candidates who run unopposed in a primary or general election win the nomination or election automatically, and their names do not appear on the ballot.[5] Incumbent Scott Stringer (D) defeated Michel Faulkner (R), Julia Willebrand (Green), and Alex Merced (Libertarian) in the general election for comptroller of New York.
| New York City Comptroller, General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Scott Stringer Incumbent |
76.72% | 838,943 | |
| Republican | Michel Faulkner | 19.50% | 213,192 | |
| Green | Julia Willebrand | 3.14% | 34,371 | |
| Libertarian | Alex Merced | 0.56% | 6,100 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.09% | 958 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,093,564 | |||
| Source: New York City Board of Elections, "2017 General Certified Election Results," November 28, 2017 | ||||
2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated New York's U.S. Senate race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Chuck Schumer (D) defeated Wendy Long (R), Alex Merced (L), and Robin Laverne Wilson (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. No candidate faced a primary opponent in June.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chuck Schumer Incumbent |
70.7% | 5,182,006 | |
| Republican | Wendy Long | 27.1% | 1,988,261 | |
| Green | Robin Wilson | 1.5% | 112,521 | |
| Libertarian | Alex Merced | 0.7% | 47,666 | |
| Total Votes | 7,330,454 | |||
| Source: New York Board of Elections | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Merced provided the following candidate statement for the New York City voter guide:
| “ |
As the next Comptroller of NYC, I want to focus my time on making sure the dollars of NYC taxpayers are spent wisely, and the pension dollars of NYC workers are invested prudently. The management of the NYC Pension Funds is a top priority as it secures the retirement of NYC workers but also mismanagement results in catch-up payments that cost the NYC taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars. I hope to focus on protecting the wallets of taxpayer dollars and not playing political optics for higher office like our current Comptroller. Please visit AlexMercedforNY.com to learn about my plans to protect NYC Pensioners and Taxpayers.[7][8] |
” |
| —Alex Merced (2017) | ||
2016
Merced made the following statement to Ballotpedia regarding his political philosophy:[9]
| “ |
I want to change the culture of politics in Washington. I will be more transparent and provide my constituency with insight of my decision making. I will make it clear how I am voting and why so that the public can be assured that I am a man of principle and am serving the public interest. My political philosophy is in short that I want to get the government out of our personal lives and give power over our lives back to the people. [8] |
” |
He also stated his positions on the following issues:[9][8]
Bill of Rights
- "One of the best institutions we have to protect individual liberty and keep government growth under control is the U.S. Constitution. By upholding the constitution and in particular the Bill of Rights we can protect many of the freedoms we have today, and restore some of the ones we’ve lost over the years. I promise to vote in a way that will uphold the ENTIRE bill of rights."
Ending Prohibition
- "Individuals have the right to voluntary provide and consume good and services to willing individuals, and the prohibition of any good or service only creates black markets filled with violence and abuse. One of our greatest prohibitions is our War on Drugs which has come at a great cost. Financial cost of enforcement and running overcrowded prisons filled with non violent offenders. Costs to our security in the funds the drug trade has created for street gangs, drug cartels, and terrorist organizations. Social costs in the families torn apart by treating drug abuse as a criminal problem instead of medical problem. These costs can only be fixed by an absolute end to policies of prohibition."
Immigration
- "Illegal immigration is like the illegal market for any good or service, the result of an inability to procure the good or service legally. The best way to reduce illegal immigration is make legal immigration a more streamlined and fair process (get rid of quotas, and let people come in if they pass a rigorous background check, health check, and have a basic ability to speak english). While this would be the ideal step forward I’m open to any policy to create legal avenues of immigration such as more workers visas, visas for those who graduate from U.S. universities, and municipal visas. With a robust legal immigration we will find that we won’t need as much resources to manage illegal immigration and that this issue can be addressed."
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Alex Merced New York Comptroller. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Campaign website
- Social media
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Alex Merced for New York - NYC Comptroller 2017," accessed June 14, 2017
- ↑ The Libertarian Party of New York, "Candidates," accessed August 2, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ballotpedia staff, "Email correspondence with Alex Merced," June 13, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 LPedia, "Alex Merced," accessed June 14, 2017
- ↑ New York Election Law, "Sec 6-160. Primaries," accessed July 14, 2017
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Filings received for the 2016 Primary Election," accessed May 9, 2016
- ↑ New York City Campaign Finance Board, "2017 General Election Voter Guide," accessed October 19, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ballotpedia staff, "Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form," July 26, 2016
