The Working Families Party on Wednesday filed to put Gov. Kathy Hochul and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado on their ballot line in the general election race for New York governor.
The progressive political party had supported Jumaane Williams and Ana Maria Archila in their primary campaigns for the Democratic nominations for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. Hochul and Delgado soundly defeated them in the June 28 contests.
“Following last week’s Democratic Primary, Jumaane Williams and Ana María Archila declined their designations for the Working Families Party ballot line in the General Election. Our State Committee voted to fill those vacancies with Kathy Hochul for Governor and Antonio Delgado for Lieutenant Governor," the party said in a statement. "Our party has never played the role of spoiler and has no intentions of doing so this year. We’re committed to ensuring the Republican nominee Lee Zeldin—and all right-wing extremists dead set on stripping us of our freedoms—are soundly defeated on Election Day.”
The move is largely expected. The Working Families Party has traditionally supported more progressive candidates in primaries and then backed the general election nominee. Along with the Conservative Party, it is the only third party that still meets the threshold for appearing on the ballot in New York elections — at least 130,000 votes at the top of its ticket or 2% of all votes cast.
The party often clashed with Hochul's predecessor, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, though he received its support in each of his campaigns for governor.