Party gains raise eyebrows
Most new Working Families members coming from the right
After a perceived takeover of the Working Families Party in Rensselaer County, the same phenomenon appears to be happening in Saratoga County.
The party, known for its progressive politics meant to uplift the working poor, has 124 new members, boosting its ranks by nearly 30 percent to its current membership of 554 countywide, according to county Board of Elections data reviewed by the Times Union. Most of those who switched — 73 of 125 — came from the Republican Party and the nowdefunct Independence Party of New York that often teamed with the GOP to cross-endorse the same candidate.
While the WFP is still a tiny faction in a county with 174,372 voters, leadership at the WFP is concerned that a more conservative-leaning membership will push out progressive candidates in primaries.
“We are concerned that the Machiavellian Republicans are trying to steal our party line like they are doing in Rensselaer,” said Joe Seeman, a WFP volunteer who endorses Saratoga County candidates. “They could force a primary with our
endorsed candidate.”
In Rensselaer County, the Times Union reported last month that the GOP is attempting to register supporters in the WFP to seize the ballot line to challenge the Working Families’ endorsed candidate, Democrat Gwen Wright. Since November, the WFP in Rensselaer
County has more than doubled in size to roughly 2,000 enrollees.
On Wednesday morning, the Saratoga County Republican Party chairman, Carl Zeilman, said that he was “not familiar” with the issue.
“Voters are free to enroll in a political party affiliation of their choosing,” Zeilman said in a written statement.
The former Independence Party Chairman Eddie Miller did not respond to a Times Union request for comment on the migration.
Anita Thayer, the secretary of the Working Family Party-capital District, said that the party has become a target because it has become more visible, getting more votes in November 2020 than it has before in its 20-year history. She also said that though it’s a concern that more Republicans and Independence
members could knock off the WFP’S endorsed candidates in primaries, she doesn’t see it as a widespread problem. The takeover of the ballot line, she said, is only a problem in counties where Republicans have less of a stronghold.
Seeman said that enrolled Republicans and Independence Party members don’t share the WFP platform of reforms that includes racial justice, equity in education, supporting unions and protecting the environment. Seeman said that the party will fight to preserve their values.
“Republicans will do anything to seize power,” Seeman said. “We will contact every member of the (WFP) party to get them to vote for our people. We are aware of it. We are dealing with and will do everything to fight it.”