The odd-numbered years may sometimes seem lacking in campaign drama, especially this year following a momentous Presidential race. But if you know where to look, municipal campaigns around the country are often true testing grounds for a grassroots-based politics -- races can be swayed by smaller blocs of voters, and the issues can be more directly connected to voters' everyday lives.
New York's Working Families Party (WFP) has been shaking up progressive politics in the state for over 10 years now - building power as a permanent coalition of labor unions, community organizations, and progressive voters. New York is one of a handful of states in the U.S. that still allows electoral fusion, which provides that candidates on the ballot may be endorsed by more than one party. By endorsing progressive Democratic candidates, the Working Families Party can influence the candidates' platform and mobilize a progressive base that may not be energized by New York's Democratic party. This system of fusion gives third parties greater potential power and influence over the debate.
This year, New York City's municipal elections are cast under the pall of the City Council's vote last year to extend mayoral term limits, allowing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for a third term - a controversial decision reversing a 1996 referendum. In addition, the New York Times calls NYC's Democratic party "forlorn and disorganized".
These things may have helped the Working Families Party during last month's primary election (usually the decisive election in NYC politics), but wasn't the only reason that their endorsed candidates had tremendous success at the ballot box and are now considered by some "the pre-eminent political force in New York City politics."
WFP ran an aggressive ground game for this year's election, knocking on 227,928 doors and talking to 62,112 voters, according to a party official, and placing hundreds of organizers out in the field on primary day. Not to mention sending dozens of members to Camp Wellstone New York in July! The effort paid off - their endorsed candidates won unprecedented come-from-behind victories for City Council, Comptroller, and Public Advocate races.
In addition to being outspoken opponents of the term-limits change, WFP organizes voters based on a progressive platform of worker's rights, housing access, and responsible development. Their success at engaging and turning out voters speaks to the power they've built as an organization and the interest New Yorkers have in voting for a progressive policy agenda while still casting their vote for a viable candidate.
In an interview with New York's Indypendent, WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor explains their unique approach by saying, "It’s not enough to publish manifestos. You actually have to be willing to knock on doors and make phone calls and talk to people who don’t agree with you. And that’s how you build power with and for working people, and that’s what we hope to accomplish."
Working Families Party is a progressive organization working year-in and year-out to build power in New York - and using the tactics of grassroots campaigns to expand their base and grow their capacity to influence decisions in the electoral and government spheres. They are a great example why it is crucial to have permanent organizations, with a clear issue agenda, involved in elections -- and not just the typical boom-bust of the political cycle.
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