The Albany Times Union covers the WFP’s first ever endorsement for Mayor of Albany - current Common Councilor Corey Ellis. As the WFP notes, Ellis won his election to the Council running soley on the WFP ballot line in 2005:
Working Families Party backs Ellis
Move expected to give council member a ballot line in voting for mayor
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Corey Ellis
ALBANY — The Working Families Party — which helped oust District Attorney Paul Clyne five years ago — has endorsed Corey Ellis for mayor, virtually ensuring that the first-term councilman will appear on November’s ballot regardless the outcome of September’s Democratic primary.
The endorsement, voted on last week and affirmed Friday by the statewide leadership, is the second show of progressive support for Ellis in the past week, following the government reform group Citizen Action’s endorsement Tuesday.
It comes on the eve of the petitioning period, which begins June 9, when candidates gather signatures to secure their place on the ballot.
The backing is significant not just because it affords Ellis the chance for two ballot lines in November, if he prevails in the primary, but also because the Working Families Party has become a symbol of District Attorney David Soares’ stunning 2004 primary defeat of Clyne, a heavy blow to the local Democratic establishment.
The WFP was formed downstate in 1998 as a coalition of labor unions and other progressive groups and was criticized as an outside influence — in terms of both money and volunteers — in the district attorney’s race.
Mayor Jerry Jennings, who is seeking a fifth term and is endorsed by the city Democratic committee, was a strong supporter of Clyne. In wake of Soares’ victory, his supporters vowed to target Jennings the next time.
Jennings, however, sought the WFP’s endorsement this year. He and Common Council President Shawn Morris, who is also running for mayor, were the other two candidates the party interviewed.
Though the WFP endorsed Morris in her 2005 run for council president, Ellis — an Albany native who returned to the Capital Region to work on Soares’ campaign — could not have been elected to the council without the party’s support. Ellis, 38, lost the Democratic primary to incumbent Councilman Michael Brown but prevailed in the general election on the WFP line.
“Corey has shown over the last four years that he is able and willing and passionate about fighting for the city of Albany,” said Karen Scharff, co-chair of Capital District Working Families Party.
Scharff cited Ellis’ aggressiveness in pushing for transparency on the council, including his efforts to continue to probe the city’s no-fine parking ticket practices as well as his work in the community.
“He’s in the youth programs, he’s in the schools, he’s in the community,” Scharff said. “We think our endorsement shows that Corey really represents the kind of change that Albany really needs.”
Ellis and Morris embody the two ripest threats to Jennings and both draw support from some of the same progressive circles. Morris supporters last week criticized Citizen Action’s support for Ellis, saying it was more about what was best for Citizen Action than the city of Albany.
Scharff said about 40 party members attended last week’s endorsement vote. She declined to reveal the tally but said support for Ellis was “overwhelming.”
“It shows people that my campaign has momentum, contrary to people believing that we didn’t have momentum,” Ellis said, referring to rumors in recent weeks that he was dropping out of the race.
While some argue that Ellis and Morris are bound to split the Jennings opposition and virtually guarantee his re-election, Ellis downplayed that threat.
“The unity has been shown with those two endorsements,” Ellis said. “I’m not one to tell people who want to run for office to not run for office. That is their legal right to do.”
To get on the ballot, Ellis will need to collect the signatures of five percent of the 246 enrolled WFP members in the city, said Republican Albany County Elections Commissioner John A. Graziano.
Morris said, “The fact remains that the first election is the Democratic primary,” and she noted her success in a four-way primary for Common Council president in 2005.
Carolyn Ehrlich, a spokeswoman for Jennings’ campaign, said the mayor has long supported organized labor and “history aside, his positions closely align with the mission of the Working Families Party.”
Also running in the Democratic primary are West Hill resident Marlon Anderson and Pastor Valerie Faust.
Each candidate must get at least 1,000 Democratic signatures to earn a spot on the Sept. 15 primary ballot.
Another Democrat, Benzie Johnson, is running, but not in the primary. Republican Nathan Lebron is also a candidate.
Jordan Carleo-Evangelist can be reached at 454-5445 or by e-mail at jcarleo-evangelist@timesunion.com.
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