2026 NYWFP Local Questionnaire

1. Tell us about who you are, why you are running, your core values and vision of what you want to accomplish.*

2. The WFP is a coalition Party of the multi-racial working-class that works on issues such as increasing wages and worker protections; taxing the rich and investing in education; expansion and protections of civil rights; affordable housing and tenant protections; and creating systems that allow immigrants to build successful and fulfilling lives as important members of the New York community. Why are you seeking our endorsement?*

3. What is your field, communications, political, and fundraising strategy to win the race? What is your estimated number of votes to win? Who is on your team (including allied entities like town or county political committees) and how will they execute this strategy?*

4. The Working Families Party is committed to building a progressive multiracial, multigenerational, working-class coalition. How does your campaign, in its hiring, staffing (whether hired or volunteer), and outreach, reflect this vision? How will you ensure your campaign and legislative office is free of sexual harassment, exploitation, and other forms of abuse and misconduct? Do you commit to abiding by good labor practices with campaign and contract staff, including paying appropriate and timely wages and reimbursements, and offering health care and time off?*

5. How will you help bring your volunteers and base into the NYWFP during and after the campaign? How will your campaign brand and narrative identify with the NYWFP?*

6. "Collaborative Governance" is breaking down barriers between government and community while centering individuals who historically have been excluded or marginalized. It requires elected bodies working in authentic partnership with communities and groups to develop a shared strategy and vision, advancing policies and building long-term sustainable change. What is your commitment to this philosophy of government? How will you involve community members and grassroots organizations in the governing process? Who do you consider yourself most accountable to?*

7. Are there any sources of legal contributions you will be refusing (i.e. donations from lobbyists, corporate PACs, police unions, real estate developers, etc.)? How will you limit the influence of corporate PACs, developers, and fossil fuel companies in your campaign?*

8. We expect WFP-endorsed candidates to have done a full vet of their social media and public profiles before campaigning. Do you have a plan to mitigate and respond to material that could reflect negatively on your campaign, and commit to sharing any relevant concerns with WFP?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

9. What are the top three issues, specific to your community and the office you are seeking, that you intend to prioritize if elected? What is your plan to approach these issues? What barriers do you expect, and how will you overcome them?*

10. What is your jurisdiction’s budget and how would you react if federal and/or state funding is cut? Because of the current federal administration’s disastrous policies, it’s quite possible that local governments will be facing cuts from the state. What measures do you think you need to take to prepare, and what is one thing you definitely would protect from cuts?*

11. Please share what you have done, either as an elected official or in another capacity, to improve the lives of working families and advance progressive policy change. (Share legislation you’ve passed, campaigns you’ve worked on, etc).*

12. Local Progress is a movement of elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government. A core pillar of this network is collaborative governing to build, shift, and maintain the balance of power to benefit those historically marginalized by our laws, our institutions, and our culture. Should you win your local race, would you commit to joining Local Progress?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

13. Please tell us in which of the following ways you are willing to help build the Working Families Party, and work with other WFP electeds to help advance solutions to improve the lives of working families across the state. Please check all that apply.*

I will publicly describe myself as a Working Families Democrat, Working Families Party-endorsed candidate and/or Working Families Party member.I will encourage voters to vote for me, and other WFP endorsed candidates, on the Working Families ballot line in November.I am (or will become) a dues-paying member of WFP.I will meet with Working Families Party members and leaders at least once per year.I will publicly commit to taking action at the request of the WFP on issues where we are aligned.I will encourage my supporters to become WFP members and activists.I am interested in discussing and exploring a deep partnership with WFP to win my campaign and build the WFP.I am interested in meeting regularly with a group of WFP legislators once in office.

14. The labor movement plays a crucial role in providing security for working people. Unfortunately, unions have been under attack by right wing activists for decades now. What will you do to help strengthen protections for working people and help increase the strength of unions and the labor movement in your community? Will you commit to supporting local efforts to organize by joining picket lines, sending letters to employers, etc, and have you done so in the past? How would you propose to also strengthen protections for gig workers?*

15. Too many New Yorkers who are making minimum wage can't afford to pay for basic human needs like healthcare, food, child care, and housing. We need to ensure workers are paid enough to live with dignity in our New York towns and cities. Some cities and counties around the state have begun examining raising the minimum wage locally so that workers are guaranteed a living wage based on real costs. Would you support the effort to allow localities to set the minimum wage in your jurisdiction?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

Housing costs in New York are out of control. Many parts of the state have become completely unaffordable for working people. Cities across New York have passed local Good Cause legislation, which grants tenants protections against unjust eviction and unreasonable rent increases.

16. Do you support opting into the strongest possible Good Cause policies in your municipality, which would close the loopholes that allow LLCs to avoid being covered by the law?*

YesNoUnsure

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17. How do you plan to create more quality housing in your community, both rental and owner- occupied, and ensure that new housing is truly affordable for working families?*

18. In 2025, the legislature passed a law requiring counties to maintain an inventory of short-term rental properties, but allows counties to opt-out. Do you believe your county should create and maintain this inventory, or opt-out?*

Maintain the inventoryOpt-outUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

19. Local cities, towns, and villages can regulate the location and number of short-term rentals through zoning ordinances. Do you think localities should use this power, and if so, how?*

20. The climate crisis has arrived in New York State, and threatens the very existence of life on our planet. Local and county governments have a key role to play in reducing emissions by updating building codes, promoting green transportation (like electric vehicles and mass transit), joining and obtaining certification through the state’s Climate Smart Communities Program, decarbonizing public buildings, and opposing fossil fuel projects proposed for your community. How would you use the office you are seeking to help avert climate catastrophe? How can you ensure that those who have suffered most from fossil fuel facilities and other projects with negative environmental and health impacts will be lifted up by climate action and a transition to a renewable energy economy?*

21. The federal government’s inhumane and oppressive mass deportations are tearing apart whole communities and will devastate New York’s economy. Do you commit to supporting policies to prohibit local law enforcement from colluding with Trump's mass deportations?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

22. What policies would you work for to ensure that immigrants (including undocumented immigrants) are made welcome in your jurisdiction and their personal information is not shared with federal agencies who intend on deporting them? Do you support protecting the personal data of local residents from federal agencies?*

23. Public safety is of paramount concern to every family and community in our state. Yet, rather than investing deeply in the resources needed to keep us safe (housing, mental healthcare, education, jobs), our cities and states rely almost exclusively on systems of policing, jails, and prisons that often fail to address the root causes of harm. The result is a criminal justice system that is ineffective, unjust, and often racially biased. What is your vision for achieving public safety in your community? What steps have you and will you take in office to address the deep racial inequities and white supremacy in systems of policing and incarceration, and to transition to a model that prioritizes community investment and public health?*

24. In 2024, New Yorkers overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1, protecting the civil rights of women, the LGBTQ community, and all New Yorkers. But the right wing has redoubled its coordinated efforts to target transgender adults and children through hateful media crusades and legislative campaigns to erode their social and medical rights. How will you support or advocate for LGBTQ+ people – especially the trans community, which continues to be under attack?*

25. How do you intend to use your role to help your local public schools, including supporting local school districts that overlap with your jurisdiction? The charter school industry exists by siphoning resources from traditional public schools. What are ways you can use your role to limit the expansion of publicly funded, privately managed charter schools in your community?*

26. Many working people across the state are left stranded by public transportation systems that are wholly inadequate for anyone who cannot afford to own a car. The lack of transportation options makes it difficult or impossible to get to or from work, or leave people with unacceptable waiting periods – sometimes without any cover from the elements. How robust and reliable is the public transportation in your area, and how would you support improving it?*

27. The Trump administration is weaponizing federal law enforcement against protestors and increasingly anyone who is speaking out against him and his actions. How will you ensure that local residents can continue to freely gather and protest without fear of retribution from law enforcement?*

Thousands of New Yorkers across our state suffer from homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness. There are proven solutions to these problems that prioritize housing, services and care. With adequate investment, housing and health services can help those afflicted rebuild fulfilling lives while also addressing community safety concerns and restoring faith in government. Unfortunately, many localities are turning to the failed strategy of ticketing and arresting people who are too poor to afford a place to live or those who need substance abuse or mental healthcare.

28. What are some solutions that you think will address homelessness in your area, and what is your approach to finding and providing housing to homeless residents?*

29. How can your locality help prevent people from becoming victims to the overdose epidemic, and how can you connect people to the resources they need?*

30. What is the role of local governments in ensuring people get the mental health care that they need, and what would you do in your position?*

31. Economic development projects can provide opportunities for local governments to deliver material gains for its residents, but they can also be giveaways to wealthy interests like real estate or nonunion developers. What are your priorities for local development, and what are some principles that would lead you to determine whether a proposal is a net benefit for your area?*

WORKING FAMILIES GUARANTEE

The Working Families Party believes the people of New York State deserve real commitments from our government on what they will do to meaningfully and materially improve our lives. We are calling on our elected leaders in Albany to make a Working Families Guarantee that, in New York State, immigrants are welcomed and protected, and everyone has access to quality housing, healthcare and childcare they can afford.

Will you join us by asking your state elected officials to support the following measures:

32. Rent stabilization is a proven tool that municipalities across the state have used to prevent egregious rent hikes, prevent displacement, and strengthen neighborhoods. However, strict statewide restrictions make it difficult for local lawmakers who want to participate in the system to opt-in. Both tenants and local lawmakers are left with little-to-no recourse as corporate landlords take over our cities and rents skyrocket. A statewide bill being introduced in Albany would make it easier for local governments to enact rent stabilization protections for its residents. Would you support a bill (S4659A Kavanagh / A4877 Shrestha) to give more latitude to local government, and would you write letters to your state representatives, local op-eds, and/or pass resolutions indicating that support?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

33. The United States continues to be the only industrialized country without a universal healthcare system. If the federal government is unable to guarantee basic care to all Americans, we need Albany to do so for all New Yorkers. Will you support the New York Health Act (S3425 Rivera / A1466 Paulin), the only comprehensive plan that would enact a universal single-payer system for all New York State residents, ensuring everyone can access high quality healthcare when they need it? More information on the legislation is below.*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

34. New York State currently serves fewer than 20% of children eligible for subsidized child care, leaving working families without the crucial support they need. Many childcare educators also make poverty wages and rely on government assistance for survival. Will you call on the state to provide universal, free, high quality child care for all New York children while paying all childcare educators a living (thriving) wage?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

35. The New York for All Act (S2235A Gounardes / A3506 Reyes) is a bill that prohibits state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws, funneling people into ICE custody, and sharing sensitive information with ICE. As the federal government continues its immoral attack on innocent families, this is an urgent public safety issue that will help protect all New Yorkers. Will you stand up for your immigrant neighbors and ask your state legislators to pass the New York for All Act?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

36. New York is facing an ever-growing affordability crisis that is driving working-class people out of the state. On top of that, the federal government has cut tens of billions of dollars in funding to important public programs like SNAP, Medicaid, special education services, and more to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. New York’s billionaires are 81% richer than they were in 2016 because of the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans’ policies. New York State can amend its laws to raise taxes on the wealthiest people and the most profitable corporations. Will you support raising taxes on the richest people and corporations in the state?*

YesNoUnsure

Feel free to elaborate

References:

S4659A Kavanagh / A4877 Shrestha

NY Health Act (S3425 Rivera / A1466 Paulin)

More information on the NY Health Act

New York for All Act (S2235A Gounardes / A3506 Reyes)

2026 New York Working Families Party Local Questionnaire