Following Election Victory, Hochul Pays Debt to Leftist Working Families Party
By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who considers herself a moderate Democrat, has a debt to repay the left, after they helped her secure a victory in last week’s election.
As reported by the NY Post, the progressive Working Families Party has openly taken credit for getting Hochul elected to a full term as New York State governor. In order to gain a victory in the tight race, Hochul had to make compromises and depend on votes from the left, for which she will have to pay back ‘favors’ as governor. The extent of her debt to the WFP has yet to be seen, political insiders told the Post. “The WFP will certainly try and collect on big-list items like ensuring she doesn’t [roll back] bail reform and putting more money into mental health resources and other social services,” said a Democratic elected official. “It’s a matter of how woke she’s willing to go.”
On the other hand, another Albany insider said she’s being misled if she follows the Working Families Party’s lead, being the truth is she almost became the first Democrat to lose a statewide election in 20 years because New Yorkers feel she’s been too close with the left lately. “If she does go further left, if she does legalize sex work, push ‘good cause’ election stuff that further destabilizes the housing market in New York, she’s not learning the lesson of the election,” he added. “People are angry with the far-left Democratic messages, and it almost cost her the race.”
Gov. Hochul only beat her opponent, Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin by a small margin, with unofficial results having her ahead by just about 5 percent, or some 300,000 votes.
The race was unexpectedly close, being that Democrats hold a 2-to-1 enrollment advantage over Republicans in NYS, as per the Post. Not to mention that Hochul’s campaign had raised a record $50 million war chest. Zeldin, considered a tough-on-crime candidate, narrowed the gap during the campaign by stressing rising crime, and promises to help businesses. The topics are hot points in NY and across the country now, with robberies, shoplifting and inflation at the forefront of many voters’ minds.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat who has long been cross-endorsed endorsed by the Working Families Party, said Hochul could not have won without both the WFP and labor unions’ 11th-hour support. Like many other Democrats, Ramos blamed the close race on the state’s weak Democratic Party’s leadership—namely on Jay Jacobs, chair of the NYS Democratic Committee. Ramos hopes Hochul will come through for the WFP, by helping support universal childcare, boosting mental health programs, and pushing NYC Mayor Eric Adams to finally shut down the jail at Rikers Island. Other issues the WFP have in mind include adding affordable housing and childcare, lowering utility costs, improving educational opportunities at SUNY and CUNY colleges, and cutting funding to the police.
The WFP is definitely expecting Hochul’s support following this election. The party said it boosted the governor’s campaign by making about 250,000 calls, sending out over 2 million text messages, delivering three rounds of mailers, and sending out operatives for in-person canvassing to help get Democrats to vote.
Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic consultant, said Hochul will have a hard time prioritizing her issues and paying back the debt without conflict. “The [Working Families Party] and the rest of the far left wants to cut cops, close Rikers, and make sure we keep spending money we don’t have on social services,” said Sheinkopf. “The problem is she’s going to have to clean up the streets from criminals and cut expenses — not so simple when you depend on people who have the exact opposite agenda.”
Gov. Hochul commented Thursday saying, “It was really a broad-based coalition that led to our victory throughout the state of New York.That’s what I’m focused on: making sure that those ties are strengthened.”
