The Working Families Party today announced that it will begin screening candidates for endorsement for this year’s local, state, and judicial elections. The local chapter located in Utica is seeking candidates from Oneida, Herkimer, Madison (Eastern portion), and Lewis counties.
Candidates must complete the questionnaire, which can only be done on the WFP’s website, by May 25. Afterward, candidates are interviewed by the local and regional Working Families Party.
The questionnaire, which is a requirement for screening, can be found at http://workingfamilies.org/endorsement/new-york/apply-wfp-endorsement/.
Candidates are also encouraged to send a letter and a resume to Working Families Party, c/o John Furman, P.O. Box 411, Utica, NY 13503-0411. For more information, please contact Furman at (315) 725-0974. The email address is uticaromewfp@gmail.com.
The Working Families Party platform supports living wage jobs, affordable housing, accessible health care, better public schools, and more investment in public services. It has been successful in organizing campaigns to increase the minimum wage, enact paid family leave, reform the Rockefeller drug laws, enact a Green Jobs Program, and restore funding for public schools in New York State.
The Party has also been instrumental in organizing grassroots support for the Bernie Sanders campaign.
The Working Families Party was organized by a coalition of community and labor groups including the Communication Workers of America, SEIU, Citizen Action of New York, and neighborhood and community groups.
The Central New York Citizens in Action (formerly the Utica Citizens in Action), as well as area unions such as the CWA and UAW, helped to organize the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison WFP organization.
The party has expanded to several states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Oregon.