The Working Families Party has opted not to endorse anyone for the race for Rochester mayor.
That move is unusual for the growing progressive party, which has consistently endorsed candidates in the city’s mayoral race dating back to its inception in the late 1990s.
Mayor Malik Evans secured the party nod in his successful 2021 bid against incumbent Mayor Lovely Warren.
Evans did not seek the party’s endorsement in his re-election bid, facing Democratic challengers in IT executive Sashi Sinha and City Councilmember Mary Lupien, who the party endorsed in her 2019 and 2023 City Council runs.
Lupien said she was disappointed by the party’s decision to sit out the city’s mayoral election.
“I think a strong, progressive mayoral candidate at the top of ticket would really help energize voters and get people out, as well as help the down ballot progressive candidates,” Lupien said. “If we’re not going to fight for a progressive future for our city now, when are we?”
Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the state Working Families Party, said the party is attempting to focus its resources on the right races.
“We are a political party who takes great care in deciding what races we’re going to throw down on, what resources and capacity we have, and where are we going to put those resources and capacity,” Gripper said. “This year in local elections, there’s a lot of races happening all across the state.”
On Tuesday, the party announced a list of 21 endorsed candidates in city, town and school board races across Monroe County. Party officials said their priority races in the Rochester region are City Council— where the party is backing incumbent Councilmember Stanley Martin, and challengers Kevin Stewart, Kelly Cheatle, Chiara Smith, and Victor Sanchez—and Brighton Town Board, where two seats are on the ballot, but the party only endorsed incumbent Robin Wilt.
Gripper said the top priority for the party is the New York City mayoral race. The party also plans to be active in the Buffalo mayoral race, and has endorsed candidates in the cities of Syracuse, Albany and Hudson, to name a few. In all, the party has endorsed hundreds of candidates across New York this year.
While small, the Working Families Party has become increasingly influential in local elections, particularly since 2019. That year, the Public Campaign Finance Commission voted to increase the threshold for a party to stay on the ballot to 2% of the vote in a gubernatorial election or 130,000 votes, whichever was higher. The previous threshold was 50,000.
That move caused most third parties, including the Green, Libertarian, and Independence parties, to be dropped from the ballot. In New York, only two third parties remain: the Conservative Party, and the Working Families Party. The former tends to be run by Republican candidates as a dual ticket, and the latter as a dual ticket for Democratic candidates.
The Working Families Party enrollment in Monroe County has grown by 29% in the past five years, but it is the smallest among all parties, with 2,020 registered voters as of a March report from the Monroe County Board of Elections. For scope, the Conservative Party had more than four times that figure, at 8,248.
In Rochester, City Council member Kim Smith is co-chairperson of the of the Working Families’ Rochester chapter. She, Lupien and Council member Stanley Martin form the progressive bloc of the Rochester City Council.
Smith said the party is focused on pointing its energy towards specific races. The Rochester mayor race was not among them.
“We had to look at endorsing within our capacity and prioritize races,” Smith said.
Smith is not seeking re-election. Martin is, and got the party endorsement.
Lupien, Sinha, and Evans will face off in the June Democratic primary election.
