WFP fights to stay on state ballot

The New York Working Families Party has had an interesting year, but the progressive third party now faces its most important task: remaining on the ballot. Party leaders are organizing across the state to make sure they get enough votes in November’s general election to meet the state’s third-party threshold. 

Every two years, the WFP and other third parties in New York need to secure either 2% of the total votes cast for president or governor or 130,000 votes, whichever is greater. If they fail to reach the threshold, they will lose their ballot line. 

The threshold wasn’t always so high. Until 2019, WFP and other third parties only needed 50,000 votes every four years. But under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Public Campaign Financing Commission increased the threshold – a move rumored to be payback for WFP decision to endorse Cynthia Nixon instead of Cuomo during the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi declined to comment on the decision but said, “The Democratic socialists should stop pretending to be Democrats and just call themselves socialists.” (Unlike the Democratic Socialists of America, WFP is not a socialist organization, though it has endorsed socialist candidates.)

In general elections, WFP almost always endorses the Democratic nominee, so the key to keeping its ballot line is to convince voters to vote for the Democratic candidate on the WFP line (Row D of the ballot), rather than voting for the same candidate on the Democratic Party line (Row A). As it looks to meet the voting threshold, WFP is employing a mix of tried-and-true campaign strategies, including voter outreach, paid advertising and amplification from popular elected officials like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

“Where there's a congressional candidate and a state Senate candidate and maybe an Assembly race that we all care about, we try to concentrate our efforts in that overlap, to make sure we're doing the work for the congressional candidate and the state Senate candidate and the Assembly candidate where possible, to make sure we're talking to our targeted voter base and just making sure voters know that in New York, your vote is really important, and we need you to come out,” New York WFP Co-executive Director Jasmine Gripper said. 

Between comprehensive phonebanking strategies and coordination with other progressive groups like Citizen Action of New York, For the Many, Make the Road Action New York and Community Voices Heard Action, Gripper said that WFP is looking to increase its local visibility. Part of the strategy involves contacting voters near polling stations. 

The party’s strength is centered in New York City, and WFP leaders were out in Brooklyn on the first day of early voting on Saturday, holding a rally outside an early voting polling site at Brooklyn Borough Hall. As speakers espoused the importance of voting on the WFP line, organizers – including the party’s two co-executive directors – approached people on line (more than 100 feet from the entrance of the polling site, per state law) to hand out materials. Periodically, speakers chanted, “WFP, vote Row D” and thanked voters for turning out. 

“When you go into that voting booth, we want you to look on your ballot, look for Working Families and vote across the Working Families ballot line,” Gripper told voters while speaking at the rally. She was joined by her co-director Ana Maria Archila and a handful of elected officials, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest and Council Member Shahana Hanif.

Outside the city, the party has had mixed success, though it has kept a steady trickle of votes coming in from the Hudson Valley, Central New York and the Southern Tier, which saw a slight jump in vote totals for the party in 2022. New York’s battleground status also means they can expect an increase in voter turnout and for their purpose, vote total, on Election Day. In places like Central New York, where state Sen. John Mannion is hoping to unseat Republican Rep. Brandon Williams and flip the 22nd Congressional District blue, WFP is trying to grow a voter base that was essentially dormant last cycle. In Long Island, their prospects are more complicated, as Democratic candidates have largely eschewed the progressive third-party line. 

Even more complicated is the situation in the 17th Congressional District, where the WFP is encouraging voters not to vote on the WFP line.That’s a result of some high-level electioneering on the part of Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler, who sent mailers to registered WFP voters earlier this year suggesting that the party no longer supported Democratic candidate Mondaire Jones. Combined with a last-minute surge in conservative voters registering with the WFP, that led former Republican Anthony Frascone to win the WFP nomination over Jones during the party’s June primary. 

Despite a fracture with Jones over his stance on the war in Gaza and his decision to endorse Westchester County Executive George Latimer against incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman, WFP still supports him, and now the party is asking all voters in the Lower Hudson Valley swing district to vote for Jones on the Democratic Party line rather than voting for Frascone on its own line. 

“We're making sure they know to vote on a Democratic line, so we're not asking them to vote up and down the ballot,” Gripper said. “That just feels too complicated of an ask. We're just telling voters not to allow MAGA Republicans to steal our line.” 

The party is also banking on its year-round presence in organizing and legislative pushes to remind voters of its importance. They hope their history of getting behind working class initiatives will remind their base that they aren’t a party with appeal solely as a November protest vote, but as an endorsement of policy changes that benefit their titular focus. 

“Elections are just one way we show our power,” Gripper said. “It's a very visible way, right? People can clearly see how many voters are engaging in talking or listening to the WFP, but we are present with our base all year round.”

– With reporting by Rebecca C. Lewis