The liberal Working Families Party could play spoiler in one of the state’s most competitive congressional races – even as the state Democratic leader warned candidates it could be poison at the ballot box in swing districts. Political unknown Anthony Frascone snagged the WFP line from Democrat Mondaire Jones in a stunning primary upset that has the power to hobble Jones’ chances of beating first-term Republican Mike Lawler in New York’s hotly contested 17th Congressional District in the Hudson Valley. Jones — who is still listed as an endorsed by the WFP on its party website — loses out on a second party line in this year’s election and now contends with the possibility that Frascone may pull votes away and boost Lawler. “No-Show Mondaire Jones couldn’t even win a simple primary for the Working Families Party ballot line,” Lawler campaign spokesman Chris Russell said. “Now, his chronic absenteeism may cost him at the ballot box in November.” Jones’ campaign and the WFP had no immediate comment. The WFP ballot line garnered 6,000 votes in the 2020 House campaign, a number that could make the difference between a Democrat winning and losing what is categorized as a “toss-up” race by the Cook Report. Lawler is running with the backing of the Conservative Party, giving him a second ballot line for Republicans to win more right-leaning voters. Former Rep. Jones had represented the lower Hudson Valley in Congress for one two-year term, but declined to run for re-election there in 2022 after congressional maps were drawn. Instead, Jones opted to run in the 10th Congressional District, which encompasses lower Manhattan and Brownstone Brooklyn — but he lost the Democratic primary to Rep. Dan Goldman. The Lawler camp took a jab at Jones back-and-forth. “Perhaps if he hadn’t abandoned the 17th District in 2022, voters might actually support him, but, unfortunately for him, that’s not the case,” Russell said. Whether or not the WFP is ultimately a factor in the Jones-Lawler battle, the minor party line is being shunned by Long Island Democrats who’ve told to say “no thanks” for fear that it could scare away voters who think its policies are too extreme. Long Island Democratic candidates Rep. Tom Suozzi, John Avlon and Lauren Gillen are all running without the WFP line and instead seeking to run on a new centrist “Common Sense” line. Suozzi’s Third District encompasses Nassau’s North Shore and parts of Queens, while Avlon is running in the First District in Suffolk County and Lauren Gillen is running in the Fourth District, which covers Nassau’s south shore and beach barrier communities. “I advised them not to take the WFP line,” said State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, who also chairs the Nassau County party. “In places like Long Island, the policies of the WFP are not aligned with the overwhelming majority of voters. It doesn’t make sense for a Democrat to take the line and defend their positions.” He said, for example, that the WFP has been critical of Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, a problematic position in heavily Jewish, pro-Israel Long Island. The WFP has advocated for $40 billion in tax hikes, voting rights for non-citizens, more legalized drug-injection centers and has urged candidates seeking its endorsement to shun backing from law enforcement unions — not popular positions in tax-sensitive, law-and-order Long Island, insiders said. Three other Democrats are running with WFP backing — Rep. Pat Ryan in the Hudson Valley’s 18th District, candidate Josh Riley in the 19th District and John Mannion in the Syracuse region’s 22nd District.
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