Endorsing Candidates with the WFP

I recently had the pleasure of participating in candidate interviews with members of the Long Island Working Families Party. While not perfect, the process was an inclusive one that made me feel like candidates were being substantively questioned about their ideas and truly held to account. These meetings were held over Zoom during the weekends, and they left me wondering how this was ever done before Zoom made it possible. Anyway, the process was transparent, though time-consuming; without a town-level party committee the "team" doing the interviewing was a gathering of WFP members from both Suffolk and Nassau counties. Hopefully, we'll someday reach the critical mass that allows for a proper town committee.

While I don't personally agree with every endorsement decision that was made across the two counties, I am a huge supporter of the process I witnessed. Every party member in attendance shared input that focused on the answers to questions -- questions focused primarily on the primary concerns of the Working Families Party: healthcare, child care, housing, affordability, and immigration. State level party participants provided some knowledge about individual campaigns -- things like candidate viability, motivation, candidate background, campaign history, enthusiasm, fundraising, campaign history, and major party support. But before any decision was made, the group was polled and a discussion ensued. It felt democratic and I have good reason to believe that contributions made in those discussions mattered in the final decisions.

As the WFP grows here in Huntington I hope you'll be joining us in future interviews and discussions!