Letitia James pushes support for Working Families Party

Letitia James won the Democratic Party runoff for public advocate — but her heart is with the smaller, left-leaning Working Families Party.

James sent out a personal email urging backers on the WFP’s mailing list to vote for her on Row D — the Working Families Party line — in the Nov. 5 general election instead of the Democratic line.

She also urged WFP supporters, most of whom are Democrats and not enrolled in the party, to vote for Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller-nominee Scott Stringer on Row D.

“When we stand together and vote on the Working Families ballot line, we send a message that no politician can ignore about the New York we want to see: a city that works for all of us, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” said James.

State Democratic Party co-chairman Keith Wright said he had not seen James’ email and declined comment.

James was first elected to her Brooklyn Council seat a decade ago on the WFP line, defeating a Democrat.

The WFP was co-founded and is financed by the city’s most powerful labor unions and leaders of left-leaning ACORN, renamed New York Communities for Change. The party typically cross-endorses the most liberal Democratic candidates.

Political insiders expect James to push the WFP-labor agenda when she becomes public advocate, and possibly tangle with a Mayor de Blasio, if he takes a hard-line with unions in contract talks.

The WFP is a powerful tail that wags the Democratic Party dog, in much the same way the right-leaning Conservative Party influences Republican Party candidates.

Yahoo Local News – New York Post

http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=14987

via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info