In a state where Democrats dominate by more than 3 million voters, New York Republicans look for any advantage they can for statewide elections.
The GOP hopes it caught that break late Tuesday when the influential Working Families Party endorsed New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams for governor, posing the potential to diffuse Democrats' votes destined for their party's candidate in the November general election. The move may have even torn a page from the GOP playbook to favor its expected candidate – Rep. Lee Zeldin of Suffolk County.
The spark of optimism warming the normally outgunned Republicans and their Conservative Party allies includes the hope that the liberal Williams running on the left-leaning line will bestow new viability on Zeldin, especially during fundraising season. It also poses a tricky tightrope for incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul to avoid alienating too many of Williams' Democratic supporters should she win the primary and should he remain on the line in November.
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"It's clearly a positive development," deadpanned state Conservative Chairman Gerard Kassar. "The need for them to express their philosophy is something I can appreciate."
Working Families, which presented similar scenarios (at least temporarily) for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the elections of 2014 and 2018, now seeks to bolster its progressive credentials with Tuesday's support for Williams. The party even featured comment from India B. Walton, winner of last June's Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo (who eventually lost to incumbent Byron W. Brown).
"No one in New York State should have to worry about where they're sleeping at night because they can't afford housing. No one should have to die because they don't have health care," said Walton, a senior adviser to the party. "In one of the wealthiest states in the country, everyone should be fed, sheltered, and cared for. That's the New York that Jumaane Williams is ready to build."
Working Families spokesman Ravi Mangla said Wednesday that Hochul and Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi of Nassau County appeared before party officials for interviews before Williams won the endorsement. The party will now support Williams through the Democratic primary, Mangla said, but would not address what happens if Williams loses the Democratic contest and enhances Zeldin's chances by remaining on the general election ballot.
"That's a bridge we'll cross when we get there," he said.
The new developments may still change significantly in the weeks ahead. Williams, along with Suozzi, will challenge Hochul in the June Democratic primary. Williams could emerge as a general election threat to Hochul if she wins and he loses in June, but observers point out that new election laws this year could make it easier for him to leave the line and decrease the potential for a diffused Democratic vote.
Democrats are now slated to endorse Hochul for a full term when they convene in Manhattan next week, and appear to remain unfazed by any Williams candidacy. One source close to the party notes Williams' Working Families nod was expected all along, that several left-leaning Democratic clubs in New York City have supported Hochul, and that the party is expected to leave their convention united.
Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy J. Zellner sees Hochul holding a "commanding lead" even with the potential for left-leaning Democrats to vote for Williams on the Working Families line.
"Kathy is not taking anything for granted and neither are we," he said, adding he expects Hochul to also appear on a new minor party line in November.
Zellner also said Hochul will not feel obliged to move her own party as leftward as Working Families wants.
"We're not socialists and we're not democratic socialists," he said. "We're Democrats."
Hochul and Williams faced each other previously during the 2018 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Hochul, the incumbent, won that contest 53%-47%, even as an upstater in a statewide election dominated by Democrats in Williams' New York City base. Working Families insiders note, however, that Williams came close despite being heavily outspent by Hochul.
