Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will not be accepting the Working Families Party nomination–or certainly not right now.
Cuomo adviser Phil Singer sent out a statement this afternoon saying that the campaign would not submit his name for the WFP convention this weekend on account of “several open issues that need to be considered,” adding that the campaign would “revisit” the issue in September. Without Cuomo on the WFP line, the party would face big trouble, as it would need 50,000 votes in the governor’s race to keep its ballot line going forward (a heavy lift for an unknown candidate).
Here’s the full statement from Singer:
“The Working Families Party Convention is this weekend and we will not be submitting Andrew Cuomo’s name for the nomination. There are several open issues that need to be considered, including but not limited to an ongoing Federal investigation as well as policy and procedural issues. We will revisit the question in September at which time there will be more information available.”
The union-dominated WFP will presumably find a new candidate to carry its flag, though WFP spokesman Dan Levitan sent out a statement suggesting the party would not close the door on Cuomo:
“Andrew Cuomo has informed us that he will not be submitting his name for nomination at our convention. We expect the party’s State Committee will be nominating the best available candidate to stand up for working men and women and the party that represents them. If the occasion arises, we will of course revisit this decision.”
This is good news for the big business and real estate worlds, which generally are opposed to the WFP. Cuomo has taken a rather business-friendly tone lately in his policy plans, and the other party endorsement he took aside from the Democrats is the line of the Independence Party, which has been working with the real estate industry and other business groups.
