With just two days before Election Day, the race between Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) and Democrat Josh Riley over New York’s 19th Congressional District is projected to be one of the most closely contested House races, with just a 0.4 point margin of victory for Riley in the latest FiveThirtyEight polling average.
Amid the narrow race, the New York Working Families Party and United Auto Workers Region 9 held a “UAW + WFP Rally and Get Out the Vote!” event at the Bernie Milton Pavilion in the Ithaca Commons on Sunday morning, rallying voters to elect WFP-endorsed candidates in NY-19.
The rally featured WFP-endorsed NY-19 Democratic Congressional candidate Josh Riley, State Sen. Lea Webb (D-NY) and Assemblymember Anna Kelles alongside UAW Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente, NY-WFP Co-Director Ana Marîa Archila and other local leaders.
Archila highlighted the value of voting on the WFP line, explaining that New York’s “fusion” voting system allows voters to express their support for the party’s values while also endorsing a major party candidate.
WFP is a nationwide organization that describes itself as a “multiracial party that fights for workers over bosses and people over the powerful.” Operating outside of the two-party system, the WFP endorses candidates from the Democratic Party or runs candidates on their own.
The NYWFP released its Voting Guide for the 2024 General Election, in which it endorsed Proposal 1, which would protect abortion in the New York State Constitution, along with nearly 200 candidates running for office across New York.
“A vote on the Working Families Party line is a vote that says, ‘I want to make sure that Trump doesn’t win, … and I want to make sure that our votes send a message that we must have a government that sides with workers, not billionaires, that we must have a ceasefire in Gaza, that we must protect the rights of everyone to determine their future and to express who they are freely,’” Archila said.
Archila said that the WFP is not “co-sign[ing] 100 percent of [any one candidate’s] agenda,” urging voters to use their votes as a step towards securing key WFP goals such as strong unions, reproductive rights and immigrant rights.
“We have to be sober about our power, and we have to remember that our votes are not some act of self-expression. That’s what poetry is for, that’s what music is for, or painting,” Archila said. “Our votes are [an] act of radical care for one another. Our votes are a strategy, not a love letter.”
Christine Johnson, the president of UAW Local 2300, encouraged Ithacans to take inspiration from the UAW’s historic strike at Cornell to continue to fight for labor interests by voting for WFP-endorsed candidates.
“Our two-week strike was successful only because our members tuned in, banded together and stood up to unfair treatment,” Johnson said. “Now we are all in an even bigger fight. This Tuesday, we need to elect those who will stand up on a much bigger stage to further [the] working people’s fight.”
At the event, Riley celebrated the successful “Get Out The Vote” canvassing efforts in the district, stating that coming into yesterday, his campaign had knocked on 191,531 doors.
Condemning Molinaro’s acceptance of funding from corporate political action committees, Riley said that there is a “direct line from the corruption in our campaign finance system [and] the votes that are being taken in Congress to the challenges that folks are having at their kitchen table[s].”
Riley said that one of the first things he will do if he is elected to Congress is to sign on to an amendment to overturn the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC, which determined that the First Amendment bars the government from restricting corporations, nonprofit organizations and other associations from funding political campaigns.
Ithaca resident Eric Becker, an attendee at the rally, showcased optimism for Riley’s chances in the swing district. Becker attended Cornell from 1971 to 1973 before transferring.
“I like his honesty, and he’s not taking corporate money and all of that,” Becker said. “I just think that he’ll be elected. I really believe that.”
Riley emphasized the pivotal role of their district’s election in determining who controls the House of Representatives, encouraging voters to make a final push in canvassing efforts as they approach Election Day.
“I want everybody to wake up the day after the election knowing that we worked as hard as we possibly could with everything on the line,” Riley said. “I want everybody to wake up knowing they had a good time doing it. And I want everybody to wake up knowing we won this thing.”