Connecticut Working Families | Vote your values. Vote Working Families.

With Election Day less than a week away, the state’s fastest-growing minor party believes it is having a major impact on the more closely watched races in the state.

According to Joe Dinkin, Working Families Party’s communications director, the party will have knocked on 50,000 doors in targeted Congressional and legislative districts by Nov. 4.

Established in 2002 in Connecticut, the Working Families Party has grown throughout the state using the strategy of cross-endorsement. When a major-party candidate is “cross-endorsed” by Working Families, the candidate’s name appears on the ballot twice, once on the major party line and again on the Working Families line. Proponents of the strategy say it allows voters to “send a message” to support the Working Families positions on issues like affordable health care and living-wage jobs, while still supporting a major party candidate who can actually win the election.

The party is also active in New York, Delaware, South Carolina which, like Connecticut, allow parties to “cross-endorse” and in Oregon, which does not.

With the nation mired in an economic slump, the idea of sending politicians a message to stand up for working families has widespread appeal, says Paul Filson, director of the Service Employees International Union in Connecticut.

“The Working Families Party offers voters something unique and appealing in this election,” Filson said. “It’s a chance to vote for a party that champions economic issues that matter to middle-class voters while still supporting a major-party candidate — typically a Democrat — who can really win the election.”

For some candidates, support from Working Families is more than another line on the ballot.

Michelle Cook, a Democratic challenger in the 65th District is hoping to win the state representative seat in Torrington against longtime incumbent Anne Ruwet. Cook says her district is both working class and middle class — a place where the Working Families’ message about protecting good jobs and making health care more affordable resonates. It’s also a district where votes she receives from the Working Families Party could change the outcome of the election.

Ruwet, a Republican, defeated her 2006 challenger by 62 votes; in 2002 she won the seat by one vote. Working Families canvassers in Torrington are urging unaffiliated voters to support Democrats like Cook on the Working Families line.

“I truly think the issues that Working Families focuses on are issues that are very important in this district — reducing the tax burden on middle-class families, raising the minimum wage, making health care more affordable,” Cook says. “They have not been passive supporters, they’ve been out there knocking on doors.”

However, Dinkin says the WFP’s sharpest focus this election is on the 4th Congressional District’s hotly contested race between Republican incumbent Chris Shays and Democrat Jim Himes. In a race that has shades of Joe Courtney’s narrow victory over Rob Simmons two years ago, some observers believe this race could be decided by a few thousand — perhaps a few hundred — votes.

Anticipating another close race, Working Families was an early supporter of Himes, endorsing him in February. Now, with less than a week to go until election day, Working Families organizers are appealing to voters frustrated and worried about the economy and disappointed with both major parties. WFP has also endorsed Democrats U.S. Reps. Chris Murphy, Joe Courtney and John Larson; state Sens. Don DeFronzo and Tom Colapietro and state Reps. Joe Aresimowicz, John Geragosian, Tim O’Brien and Peter Tercyak.

“With everything happening in the economy it’s understandable that voters are angry and frustrated,” said Brian Petronella, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 371 and co-founder of WFP in Connecticut. “Change is the buzzword this election. But, if you want to vote for change like you mean it, vote on the Working Families line.”

Dinkin insists WFP is “a minor political party formed by a coalition of community organizations, labor unions and neighborhood activists united to fight for a fair economy.”

Listed as the party’s major issues on ct-workingfamilies.org are affordable health care, living wage jobs, and fair taxes. According to the site, the party advocates an Earned Income Tax credit on the Connecticut state taxes and residents paying income taxes by percentage — not “disproportionately [benefitting] big businesses and the very wealthy.”

Asked about the party’s joint founder, ACORN (The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), Dinkin said “while it’s fair to say that ACORN has a role in Working Families, allegations of voter fraud against ACORN are trumped up. At worst, a couple of people who worked for ACORN tried to cheat ACORN and not do their jobs. These people were identified and fired. I’m impressed with what a good operation they run.”

In 2000 the Associated Press reported that the WFP “was created to help push the Democratic Party toward the left.” Dinkin discounts this charge.

“We certainly have a slate of issues that appeal to blue collar workers and the middle class like affordable health care, decent living wage jobs and other ‘such radical notions,’” he said. “The idea that we’re some radical fringe group? Look at whom we’ve endorsed — Chris Murphy and John Larson.”


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