Saturday, April 26, 2014

Working Families Party isn’t really sure about Gov. Cuomo


The Working Families Party is polling its supporters on whether it should back Democratic Gov. Cuomo’s re-election or ditch him.


The WFP query of 250,000 people on its mailing list comes amid tension between the left-of-center, union-dominated group and Cuomo over a number of issues – particularly campaign finance reform, taxes and charter schools.


WFP leaders claim Cuomo hasn’t pushed hard enough to implement a taxpayer-financed campaign-finance system modeled after New York City’s program. Republicans in the state Senate oppose the measure.


They’re also not thrilled Cuomo pushed for tax cuts, fought to protect charter schools in the state budget, and clashed with Mayor de Blasio, a WFP darling, over pre-K financing.


The WFP will nominate a candidate at its convention at the end of May.


“Before the WFP State Committee casts their votes, they need to hear from you. What do you think the Working Families should do? — Support Governor Cuomo. Search for a progressive challenger to run on the Working Families Party ballot line. Or something else,” the party asks in its survey blasted to members on Saturday.


The WFP boasted that a recent Siena College poll found that if the WFP nominated its own candidate for governor, the unnamed challenger would get upwards of 24 percent of the vote. But historically, third-party candidates rarely do as well in the ballot box as in polls.


A political party must capture at least 50,000 votes statewide to keep its ballot status. The WFP backed Cuomo in 2010, even though some were displeased that he campaigned to rein in property taxes.


Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino will be Cuomo’s Republican opponent.


The WFP’s move comes at a time when the defunct Liberal Party is trying to revive itself by backing Cuomo for re-election.





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