Working Families Party: Endorsement for Mayor
By Thomas Good
The Working Families Party announced their endorsements this week, with Scott Stringer as first, then Dianne Morales, and then Maya Wiley.
“We are confident Scott Stringer has both a path to victory and can lead New York out of this public health and economic crisis, centering the needs of Black, brown, and immigrant New Yorkers, and ensuring our communities do not just survive, but thrive in the years to come,” said the party’s director Sochie Nnaemrka.
The decision comes after several weeks of interviews, questionnaires, and a final vote on Tuesday.
For the first time, New York is using ranked-choice voting in a mayoral race, urging a different type of endorsement.
In the past, WFP has only endorsed one candidate, but due to the nature of this year’s ranked voting, they decided to include Morales and Wiley. “Normally we would just make one endorsement. But because of ranked-choice voting and the role that it plays, we did both,” said George Albro, one of the founding members of WFP.
The party is encouraging ranking candidates to avoid a runoff election said Nnaemrka.
WFP applauded many of the policies from the three candidates. According to the Gothamist, Albro said “Stringer was their pick based on policy, citing his work as comptroller pushing for the city to divest its pension funds from fossil fuels as well as his plans to create more deeply affordable housing.”
Less than a year ago, WFP was fighting for survival. Governor Andrew Cuomo backed policies that required 130,000 votes or 2 percent of the total vote in the November General elections in order to keep their ballot in New York. This is much higher than the previous threshold, which was 50,000 votes in a governor election. Without a ballot line, WFP would have lost much of its influence.
Nevertheless, they exceeded the margin and their endorsements continue to hold power over New York City’s mayoral race.