Rick Lazio Drops Third Party Bid for NY Governor

Rick Lazio has dropped his Conservative Party bid for New York governor, the New York Times reports. Republican officials had been pressuring Lazio, their original pick to top their ticket, to remove his name from the ballot ever since his defeat at the hands of tea partier Carl Paladino in the primary.

Though Paladino has been making inroads in the heavily Democratic state, the GOP feared Lazio would split the vote, essentially handing Democrat Andrew Cuomo the win. Paladino's name is expected to be subbed in for Lazio's on the Conservative Party line.