Working Families Party Retains Its Ballot Line

The Working Families Party, forced to cope with a 160-percent increase in the number of votes required to retain its line on the state ballot at a time when its union support had shrunk dramatically, defied expectations by garnering 283,000 ballots cast for Joe Biden Nov. 3, more than double the new 130,000-vote threshold.

That standard, up from the old minimum of 50,000, was also easily exceeded by the state Conservative Party, but that was not a surprise, as its state chairman noted in a statement the day after the election. that party got more than 292,000 votes on its line for President Trump in 2016, and two years later, despite a far-smaller turnout in a gubernatorial election, received 253,000 votes on its line for Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, who was also the Republican nominee in his bid to unseat Governor Cuomo.