The Working Families Party was formed in 1998 in New York by labor unions, community organizations, and political activist groups. It endorses Democratic or Republican candidates and advocates for issues affecting working-class families, such as an increase in the minimum wage and affordable housing. The party uses merger voting to support a single candidate and has been successful in getting Democrats and Republicans to address minor party issues.
The Working Families Party was first formed in 1998 in New York by a coalition of labor unions, community organizations, and political activist groups dissatisfied with the two-party system’s ability to represent their views. The Working Families Party of New York led to the founding of similar Working Families Parties in Delaware, Vermont, Connecticut, South Carolina and Oregon. While the party has occasionally fielded its own candidates, it more often endorses a Democratic or Republican candidate, a practice known as merger voting.
In 1998, the Working Families Party made its mark by endorsing the Democratic candidate for governor of New York, Peter F. Valone. He lost the election to George Pataki, but Valone got just over 50,000 votes from the Working Families Party, enough to secure the new party a position in the upcoming ballots. When the Green Party and the Liberal Party lost their electoral positions in 2002, the Working Families Party was the only minor liberal party left in New York.
New York’s electoral laws allow for merger voting, in which more than one party supports a single candidate. This allows voters to feel they can support smaller political parties like the Working Families Party without wasting a vote on an inelectable candidate. The merger vote has also been an effective tool for getting Democrats and Republicans to address minor party issues.
Built from a grassroots base of union and community activists, the Working Family Party’s agenda revolves around issues affecting working-class families. Party members believe elected officials should be accountable for the decisions they make and the policies they advocate. Working Family Party members are advocating for an increase in the minimum wage, guaranteed sick pay and paid family leave. Affordable housing, green technologies in the home and workplace, health care and public transportation are also issues of concern to the party and its supporters.
Traditionally, these policies would have been seen as the democratic platform. In fact, many of the candidates the party backs are running Democrats. Party supporters, despite taking an active role in party leadership and voting for party candidates, are often registered as Democrats, Republicans, or independents. Many voters, however, felt their voices were being drowned out by well-funded lobbyists and saw the Working Families Party as a way to win back the attention of their elected officials. In some elections, the party has endorsed receptive Republican candidates over Democrats who seemed disconnected.
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