Cuomo Out To Destroy Working Families Party, Keep Senate In Hands Of GOP/IDC

Jon Campbell in Democrat & Chronicle:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign is boosting its efforts to snag votes on the Women's Equality Party ballot line, airing a new television advertisement in hopes of getting permanent ballot status for the next four years.

The 30-second ad will begin airing Friday through Tuesday, Election Day. It was released the same day Cuomo sent an email to supporters, asking for their vote on the line.

If Cuomo gets 50,000 votes on the WEP line, it will be on New York ballots for the next four years.

...

Cuomo launched the party effort in July, not long after he received the Working Families Party endorsement in late May as part of a last-minute deal in which he backed a variety of liberal-leaning causes.

His push for boosting the Women's Equality Party could have a detrimental impact on the Working Families Party, which currently occupies Row D on New York ballots. Should the Women's Equality Party gain more votes than the Working Families Party, it would push the latter further down the ballot.

Cuomo created the WEP for two reasons:

First, Cuomo polls badly with male voters these days but remains popular with women - pushing the WEP line has seemed to solidify his support among women voters even more

Second, it was payback for the humiliation of having to grovel for the WFP ballot line in May. 

It's not an accident that Cuomo created the WEP not long after the WFP fiasco. 

WFP leaders thought they were getting promises out of Cuomo to push for a Democratic State Senate in return for the WFP endorsement.

Instead what they got was an empty promise from Cuomo to push for Democratic control of the State Senate and a rival third party that now threatens to keep WFP from getting the 50,000 votes it needs to maintain its ballot line.

On Wednesday November 5th, it is very likely that the State Senate will remain in the control of the GOP/IDC and the WFP will no longer have its ballot line.

Quite a coup from Governor Cuomo there, sticking it to the Working Families Party.

Yeah, he had to make the hostage video to get the WFP nod, but in payback, he seeks to ensure the party loses its ballot line and ceases to matter.

Given the sell-out that occurred at the WFP convention in May, maybe that's the best thing that can happen here.

The lesson would be, don't sell your soul to a candidate who doesn't share your values, support what you support or care about you in the least.