In the months leading to the November election, the Working Families Party spent thousands of dollars aiding left-leaning Democratic candidates in dozens of races across the state, often with relatively small amounts in contests for obscure offices. There was the $663 spent on a race for trustee in the Westchester County village of Croton-on-Hudson, or the $1,549 for a candidate running for Monroe County legislator.
In taking a hyper-local view of politics, the party, which considers itself to be the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, is trying to lay the groundwork for bigger things. Party officials are focusing on small local races in the hopes of grooming politicians for more high-profile offices, like state legislator or a seat in Congress, while at the same time pushing the Democratic Party to the left.
They might take inspiration from the recent house of delegates election in Virginia where a Democratic candidate, Shelly Simonds, gained headlines when she appeared to have won in a recount by a single vote; ultimately, a court declared the race a tie, which will have to be decided by drawing lots. Ms. Simonds’s previous elected position? She is a member of a local school board.
Closer to home, Laura Curran, a Democrat who was elected the Nassau County executive in November, in part with support from the Working Families Party, was a county legislator and before that a school board member. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has often worked with the party, also started out as a school board member in Brooklyn.
