Gov. Kathy Hochul’s debt to left, Working Families Party comes due after election win

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s debt to the far left is now coming due, but just how much she is beholden to the Working Families Party — which has openly taken credit for getting her elected to a full term — remains to be seen, Albany pols and insiders told The Post.

Hochul, who has tried to position herself as a moderate Democrat, finds herself in the compromising position of having to also satisfy the WFP and other staunch progressives, insiders said.

“The WFP will certainly try and collect on big-list items like ensuring she doesn’t [roll back] bail reform and putting more money into mental health resources and other social services,” said a Democratic elected official. “It’s a matter of how woke she’s willing to go.”

Another Albany insider said she’d be foolish to follow the Working Families Party’s lead and ignore that she nearly became the first Democrat to lose a statewide election in 20 years because New Yorkers believe she’s swung too left lately.

“If she does go further left, if she does legalize sex work, push ‘good cause’ election stuff that further destabilizes the housing market in New York, she’s not learning the lesson of the election,” he added. “People are angry with the far-left Democratic messages, and it almost cost her the race.”

T-shirts were offered during a summit on Intersectional Environmentalism presented by AZ Working Families Party and The Green New Deal Network.
T-shirts were offered during a summit on Intersectional Environmentalism presented by AZ Working Families Party and the Green New Deal Network.
Getty Images for Green New Deal

With the soft-on-crime WFP’s help, Hochul eked out a close win over her law-and-order Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin, with unofficial results having her ahead by slightly over 300,000 votes or 5%.

It was an unexpectedly close race considering Democrats hold a more than 2-to-1 enrollment advantage over Republicans in New York, and Hochul’s campaign raised a record $50 million.

Zeldin narrowed the gap during the campaign’s stretch run by driving home the point that New Yorkers – like much of the country – are most concerned about rising crime and inflation.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat with a long history of being cross-endorsed by the Working Families Party, said there’s no doubt Hochul needed both the WFP and labor unions’ 11th-hour support on the ground to eke out a victory.

Like many other Democrats, Ramos is laying much of the blame for Hochul’s near-defeat on the state Democratic Party’s leadership.

Hochul has said she has no desire to replace Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Committee.

Among the key platforms, Ramos hopes the governor will deliver for progressives are universal childcare, boosting mental health programs, and lighting a fire under Mayor Eric Adams to deliver a promise to shut down problem-plagued Rikers Island.

Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic consultant, said Hochul will have tough choices to make.

“The [Working Families Party] and the rest of the far left wants to cut cops, close Rikers, and make sure we keep spending money we don’t have on social services,” said Sheinkopf. “The problem is she’s going to have to clean up the streets from criminals and cut expenses — not so simple when you depend on people who have the exact opposite agenda.”

The WFP says it boosted the governor’s campaign by sending more than 2 million text messages, making over 250,000 calls, delivering three rounds of mailers, and having its operatives do plenty of in-person canvassing to help get out the vote.

The party endorsed Hochul for governor in part to help secure a mandatory 130,000 votes or overall 2% statewide vote total it needs to maintain automatic ballot access in future elections. The alliance helped the party score more than enough — nearly 250,000 votes.

Sheinkopf and other insiders say they expect the WFP to lobby Hochul hard to back legislation making it easier for so-called “third parties” to maintain their ballot positions.

When asked what issues the WFP expects Hochul to make a priority, the party’s spokesman Ravi Mangla said they include boosting affordable housing and childcare, lowering utility costs, and investing in improving educational opportunities for all at the State University of New York and the City University of New York.

A picture of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
One Albany pol said Gov. Hochul would be foolish to follow the Working Families Party’s lead.
Getty Images for HRC

Hochul’s office said the governor stands by comments she made Thursday.

“It’s all about how we move forward, and I’m grateful to have the support of progressives and organized labor and clergy and elected officials from every corner of the state,” she then said.

“It was really a broad-based coalition that led to our victory throughout the state of New York. That’s what I’m focused on: making sure that those ties are strengthened.”

However, a source told The Post on Wednesday that the governor’s campaign is furious that the WFP took credit for Hochul’s victory, claiming the WFP only promoted her out of self-preservation.

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