Gov. Andrew Cuomo secured the endorsement of the liberal-leaning Working Families Party on Saturday, agreeing to shift leftward on issues such as the state minimum wage to avoid the party backing a different candidate.
The small but influential Working Families is a pro-union party that has clashed with Cuomo, a Democrat, over what some party members have viewed as more moderate policies. The party threatened to endorse its own candidate and Cuomo, a Democrat, made several marquee policy concessions to prevent a challenge from a liberal candidate on the Working Families line.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll said the inclusion of a Working Families candidate could swing Cuomo’s lead in an election by as much as 20 percentage points.
The governor agreed to support an increase in the state minimum wage and back a Democratic Party takeover of the state Senate. Currently, the Senate is controlled by Republicans working with a coalition of five breakaway Democrats, the Independent Democratic Conference. The governor”™s move is a shift in course after previously avoiding involving himself in the fray over the Independent Democrats”™ leadership roles.
To gain the Working Families support, Cuomo also said he”™d support a new version of the DREAM Act, a program that would offer federal financial aid programs for the children of undocumented immigrants. A previous version of the bill was rejected by the New York Legislature.
Cuomo did not attend the party”™s convention but appeared in a video announcement just ahead of the delegation vote on a nomination. With the concessions, Working Families delegates supported Cuomo with 59 percent of the weighted vote over Zephyr Teachout.
Cuomo”™s Republican opponent, Rob Astorino, received the backing of the state Conservative Party on Saturday. Astorino, who is Westchester”™s county executive, faced no formal opposition in a quieter third-party nominating process.
