WFP convenes lefty mayoral nominees from across the state in Brooklyn

Fresh off a series of progressive wins in primaries across the state, the Working Families Party is hosting a gathering Saturday with Democratic mayoral nominees Zohran Mamdani of New York City, Dorcey Applyrs of Albany, Sharon Owens of Syracuse and Miles Burnett of Binghamton to strategize around how progressives can best harness and learn from their victories. Attorney General Letitia James, one of the Democratic Party’s most influential voices in the state, is also slated to speak about the role New York can play in fighting authoritarianism from the Trump administration.

The event, which is co-sponsored by The Nation, will kick off Saturday morning in Brooklyn. Working Family Party co-directors Jasmine Gripper and Ana María Archila described its purpose as part celebration of the mayoral candidates’ wins, part strategizing session about what it’ll take to secure those victories in their respective November general elections – and more distantly, for them to govern well. 

Saturday’s gathering comes in wake of Working Families Party-backed candidates notching wins in four of the state’s largest cities – something many progressives have interpreted as a rebuke to the more moderate coalitions of the Democratic Party that have struggled to respond to the Trump administration. 

“We don’t always get to win and win this big and this much,” Gripper told City & State. “None of these races felt like they were handed to us or easy. We had to fight against candidates, against big money, and so to come out on top is really amazing.” 

Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, won handily in New York City, far outperforming expectations and toppling a political goliath. (The Democratic Socialists of America of New York City were the primary architects of Mamdani’s strategy.) Applyrs dominated a four-way Democratic primary in Albany and is currently set to make history as the city’s first Black mayor. That’s a distinction she’s likely to share with Owens, who secured a solid victory over the other two leading Democratic contenders in Syracuse. State Sen. Sean Ryan similarly dominated his primary in Buffalo (a conflict prevented him from attending Saturday’s event). Burnett, another priority candidate for the Working Families Party, also notched a big victory in the Binghamton Democratic primary, although he still faces a tough battle against Republican incumbent mayor Jared Kraham in the fall. 

As different as these candidates and their talking points are, each shares an emphasis on centering working families and crafting an agenda that deals with issues that working people are facing, according to Gripper and Archila.

“The Democratic Party seems to be paralyzed and unable to sort of slow down the advance of authoritarianism,” Archila said, describing New York as a source of hope and optimism for many at this time. “We want to locate these victories in that and say there is a path forward that includes the elements of what each of these leaders brought to their particular fights.”

The event will also mark the first time Mamdani, Applyrs, Owens and Burnett are in a room together. They’ll join each other for a panel in which they’ll answer questions about what they need from WFP to be successful, the challenges they are worried about facing and how to face them together.