Andrew Cuomo

Does Cynthia Nixon’s loss kill the WFP?

Now that Cynthia Nixon has lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary, the Working Families Party must decide what it will do about its ballot line for governor.

Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon delivers her concession speech at the Working Families Party primary night party in New York City.

Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon delivers her concession speech at the Working Families Party primary night party in New York City. Jason DeCrow/AP/Shutterstock

The Working Families Party may be in trouble.

Now that Cynthia Nixon has lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary, the party must decide what it will do about its ballot line for governor. Currently, Nixon still holds its nomination, but that could change. And no matter what decision party leaders make, the outcome does not look great for the WFP.

Before the primary, WFP leaders said they had a plan in place to remove Nixon from their party line if she lost so as not to play the “spoiler” by taking votes away from the Democratic nominee and potentially electing Republican Marcus Molinaro. In New York, a candidate can only be removed from the ballot if he or she dies, gets convicted of a crime, moves out of state or gets nominated for a different office. The WFP had said it would nominate Nixon to run in the 66th Assembly District, currently held by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, so that Nixon could be removed from the gubernatorial ballot line. This is not because Nixon or the WFP wants to beat Glick, a solidly liberal legislator, but just because Nixon happens to live in Glick’s district and it’s one of the few positions she could be nominated for.

Glick told City & State that members of the WFP had not yet been in touch with her following last week’s election.

If Nixon did run for Glick’s Assembly seat, even if she does not actively campaign, she risks unseating a longtime progressive assemblywoman who was the first openly gay person elected to the state Legislature.

And the problem for the WFP isn’t just getting Nixon off its gubernatorial line, but getting someone who will get at least the 50,000 votes needed for the party to retain its ballot line but not take too many votes from Cuomo and risk winding up with a Republican governor. Normally, the WFP simply endorses the Democratic nominee.

But, after years of bad blood between the WFP and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, that looks unlikely this time. According to a Friday story from the New York Post, the WFP last week rejected a deal to back Cuomo, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the talks. WFP State Director Bill Lipton told the Post that the party was in the midst of “nonstop discussions” about what to do, and that no decisions had been made. In an emailed statement to City & State, Lipton said, “We’re going to meet in the next few weeks with our grassroots leaders, Cynthia, and Jumaane (Williams, the party nominee for lieutenant governor) – and together we’re going to make this decision.” The Nixon and Cuomo campaigns did not immediately return requests for comment.

There are different scenarios that may play out, depending on what decision the party makes:

  • Nixon stays on the ballot line. Although she has expressed the desire not to play the spoiler, if the party does not accommodate that by nominating her for something else, the only feasible way off the ballot is to move out of state. At the WFP election night party, party activists expressed a desire for her to continue running. Nixon could still receive the 50,000 votes needed to keep the WFP alive, even if she does not actively campaign. That would probably be the best outcome for the party, but pursuing it could be a risky strategy: If too many progressives voted for Nixon, she could draw so many votes away from Cuomo she could give Republican Marc Molinaro a path to victory. That would tarnish the WFP’s record of never being a spoiler and contributing to a Republican governorship. On the other hand, given how strongly Democratic New York is, it’s unlikely to result in a Molinaro victory.
     
  • The party strikes a deal to back Cuomo and it runs Nixon in the Assembly race. This would ensure the WFP’s survival for another four years, but risks turning party activists against the leaders for having betrayed its progressive ideals. Several powerful unions that originally helped found the WFP split with the party when it decided to back Nixon over Cuomo, so angering the activists with the party could further weaken it. Some liberals soured on Cuomo during his first term due to his centrist policies. In 2014, the WFP almost backed then-gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout for governor. After tense negotiations, and promises from Cuomo to pursue a progressive agenda, the party endorsed the governor. It did not take long for the WFP to feel Cuomo betrayed their deal by, among other things, not forcing the Independent Democratic Conference to disband, and the already contentious relationship worsened, which led to this year’s decision to back Nixon. This time, party officials have little bargaining power and would lose even more by repeatedly supporting a candidate that they say betrayed them.  
     
  • The WFP gets Nixon off the ballot, but does not back Cuomo for governor. This route is the most likely to cause the WFP to lose its status as a qualified political party in the state. However, it may not: According to multiple polls from 2014 taken before the Democratic primary that year, an unnamed WFP candidate would have cut into Cuomo’s margin of victory without costing him the contest, while also providing the WFP with the votes needed to automatically qualify for ballot status in the next election. If the party puts up an unknown candidate who does not campaign, that person could potentially provide the necessary votes to survive without playing spoiler. This would be the riskiest move for the party, with both the worst and best potential outcomes. On the one hand, the WFP could survive without yielding to Cuomo while also not taking away votes with a big-name candidate. On the other hand, the candidate they put up could fail to perform well enough and the party could die.

As the WFP meets in the coming weeks, as Lipton says they will, the party would appear to have a lot to weigh in making a final decision.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.