From the Morning Memo:
A number of organized labor groups have lined up to provide early endorsements to Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he seeks a third term this fall and faces a new primary challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon, with the latest nod coming from the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1500, New York’s largest supermarket workers union.
The union’s president, Anthony Speelman, is poised to formally announce this endorsement today, explaining that the governor has earned his members’ support by demonstrating a “track record of achieving meaningful progressive victories.”
“It is easy to talk a progressive talk, but Andrew Cuomo walks the walk,” Speelman said in a press release, an early version of which was obtained by SoP.
“Thanks to the leadership of Andrew Cuomo, low-wage workers saw their paychecks increase, companies who steal from workers face the toughest penalties in history, and marriage equality is a reality in New York. New York is a better place because he governs it, and he has clearly earned another term.”
Speelman specifically pointed to the governor’s work strengthening the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which he said Local 1500 led efforts to pass in 2010. In 2014, the Cuomo administration, working with Local 1500 and other stakeholders, strengthened the law by establishing important provisions to hold violators accountable.
This is not a big surprise.
UFCW Local 1500 has long been a Cuomo ally, dating back all the way back in 2010 when he first ran for governor.
UPDATED with correction: RWDSU, not Local 1500, was in fact the first union to announce its support of then-AG Cuomo’s gubernatorial run in 2010, making its endorsement even before he had formally entered the race, and also before then-Gov. David Paterson announced he wouldn’t be seeking a full term.
The union has been a stalwart of support for the governor even as his relationship with other unions – particularly those in the public sector – has been rocky, due to his intermittent battles with teachers and state workers.
Another longstanding Cuomo labor ally, SEIU, the health care workers union, has also provided the governor with an early endorsement this year. So did another longtime Cuomo backer, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which actually was the first to announce its endorsement in the governor’s race this year.
Another early nod for the governor came from the National Organization for Women-New York.
The governor is seeking to quickly shore up support among his left-leaning Democratic base – a group with which he has not always seen eye-to-eye – particularly since Nixon, also a public education activist, announced she would challenge him in a primary in September.
When Zephyr Teachout, then a little-known Fordham Law School professor, challenged Cuomo in a primary four years ago, one of the state’s largest public workers unions, PEF, endorsed her, while NYSUT decided to sit out the governor’s race entirely, declining to pick a favorite.
Also sitting on the sidelines that year was the AFL-CIO, the umbrella organization of New York labor.
Cuomo and PEF announced a three-year labor deal back in 2016, and he struck a five-year deal with the largest state worker union, CSEA, in 2017.
CSEA President Danny Donohue, who in the past has not been shy about sharing some choice words about Cuomo, has left the door open to possibly endorsing the governor as he seeks a third term.
Since Nixon entered the race, there has been considerable speculation about what the labor-backed Working Families Party will do. The WFP initially wooed Teachout, but ended up backing Cuomo in 2014. The party needs to receive at lest 50,000 votes on its line in the race for governor in order to maintain ballot status for the next four years.
UFCW Local 1500 also will be announcing its endorsement of LG Kathy Hochul, who is facing a primary challenge from Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, who enjoys support from groups that were active in backing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential primary bid against Hillary Clinton.
In explaining the union’s support for Hochul, Speelman recalled that she was “instrumental in saving Medicare from (House Speaker) Paul Ryan and the Congressional Republicans. He also noted that as Cuomo’s No. 2., she has tackled “critical issues” like the opioid crisis, economic development and and sexual assaults on college campuses.
There has been some speculation that Cuomo might seek to replace Hochul with another candidate who would have ticket-balancing appeal in light of recent developments in the race.
Names that have so far been floated include Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who has said she isn’t terribly interested in the job, and hasn’t been approached by Team Cuomo; and former NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who found herself in hot water last week after calling Nixon an “unqualified lesbian” – a statement she later walked back.
Cuomo has said publicly that Hochul will again be his running mate this fall.