Politico New York Playbook: October 4, 2018

Cuomo’s opponents quickly issued statements condemning the WFP’s switch. "The only vote left for progressives and socialists is the Green Party ticket after the Working Families Party once again nominated Andrew Cuomo,” said Green nominee Howie Hawkins. 

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WFP OFFERS LINE TO CUOMO: For nearly three hours on Wednesday evening, members of the state committee of the Working Families Party huddled on the 16th floor of an office building in Lower Manhattan to decide the future of their organization — and which gubernatorial candidate it will support in the general election. Some urged the party to keep Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams on the party's ballot line for governor and lieutenant governor, which, they said, would send Gov. Andrew Cuomo a message about progressive dissatisfaction. Others said it was time for the party to move on from Nixon's defeat in the Democratic primary last month and cede the line to Cuomo and his running mate.

In the end, incumbency prevailed and the party decided to back Cuomo and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, but not without several members of the party making their dissatisfaction clear. Anita Thayer, a state committee representative from New York's 20th Congressional District, insisted the party stick with its original plan. "I favor keeping Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams on our ballot line, it will be true to our principles, help our down-ballot work and help get us to the 50,000 votes that we need," Thayer said, referring to the number of votes a party needs in the governor's race to remain on the ballot. Some 62.5 percent of votes were cast in favor of offering the line to Cuomo, and 37.5 percent were cast in favor of keeping Nixon on the line. Cuomo has to accept the nomination by 5 p.m. on Friday, and it's not clear if he will. Asked about the WFP ballot last week he would only say, "We haven't gotten there yet." POLITICO’s Gloria Pazmino

—Cuomo’s opponents quickly issued statements condemning the WFP’s switch. The only vote left for progressives and socialists is the Green Party ticket after the Working Families Party once again nominated Andrew Cuomo,” said Green nominee Howie Hawkins. “Cynthia Nixon and the Working Families Party were courageous in standing up to Andrew Cuomo,” Stephanie Miner said. “It’s disappointing to see the WFP leadership cave in to Cuomo’s intimidation and heavy-handed tactics.” And Molinaro said that the endorsement “proved again” that “they system is rigged against” ordinary New Yorkers.