Working Families Party Endorses Malloy–Backlash From Former WFP Supporters? Pelto: Politics Before Policy

Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, issued an eblast to supporters on Tuesday announcing the endorsement of Governor Dan Malloy for another four years. Malloy’s name will appear on the Democratic and WFP lines in the general election. In Bridgeport, former school board member Maria Pereira broke from the WFP several months ago in anticipation of this endorsement, saying Governor Malloy exhibited his disdain and contempt for the people of the City of Bridgeport and proved that he is a willing accomplice of the corporate educational establishment.

Pereira opposes Malloy’s education initiatives including his support for the state takeover of city schools in 2011 that was overturned by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Pereira, a relentless campaign worker, says she is supporting the gubernatorial candidacy of former state legislator turned blogger Jonathan Pelto who’s trying to petition his way onto the November ballot.

Four years ago Republican Tom Foley received more votes on the Republican line than Malloy received on the Democratic line. The WFP line made the difference in a close race. Pelto’s potential presence on the November ballot could siphon education votes Malloy enjoyed in 2010. Farrell’s eblast announcement:

Governor Dan Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman have just earned the endorsement of the Connecticut Working Families Party!

Over the past four years, Governor Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Wyman have been critical to important victories for working and middle class families and the unemployed. They championed Connecticut’s historic paid sick days program. Now they’re facing a tough re-election–and they’ll need your help to win.

Pledge to vote for Governor Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Wyman on Row C this November!
Thanks to the leadership of Governor Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Wyman, Connecticut is a national leader when it comes to economic justice:
• We became the first state to guarantee paid sick time off to hundreds of thousands of service industry workers.
• We were the first state to raise our minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
• We were one of the few states to balance the budget by asking the super-rich to pay their fair share instead of cutting essential services.
• And while some states eliminated workers’ rights to collectively bargain, we expanded that right to more workers.
Over the past few months, we’ve been carefully considering who to endorse: scrutinizing candidate’s records, asking you, our members and activists, and hearing directly from the candidates at our Forum. When we asked you what we should do it was crystal clear: you wanted us to endorsed Governor Malloy and work to reelect him.

Governor Malloy and Lieutenant Governor Wyman have earned our support. Sign our pledge to vote for Malloy and Wyman on the Working Families ballot line on November 4th.
A vote on the Working Families Party line counts for the best candidate, and also sends a message that you want the Governor to focus on building an economy that works for everyone, not just the super wealthy.

Statement from Pelto:

While it is unfortunate, the Working Families Party’s endorsement of Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy is not surprising. Rather than hold Malloy responsible for his anti-working family policies, the group has thrown their support behind an incumbent who has squandered the opportunity to stand up and do the right thing for the real working families of Connecticut.

Worse, the WFP leadership is using their endorsement to mislead the people of the state. In their endorsement, the Working Party falsely states:

• We were one of the few states to balance the budget by asking the super-rich to pay their fair share instead of cutting essential services.

• And while some states eliminated workers’ rights to collectively bargain, we expanded that right to more workers.

But the truth is Governor Malloy IS THE ONLY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR IN THE NATION to propose doing away with teacher tenure and repealing collective bargaining for teachers in so-called “turnaround schools.”

Not only did Dan Malloy fail to support the fundamental rights of unionized workers but he has consistently worked to undermine the teaching profession and the rights and work of state and local employees. Malloy’s corporate education reform industry proposals were in opposition to everything the WFP is supposed to stand for.

And the WFP’s claim that Dannel Malloy asked the “super-rich” to pay their fair share would be funny if it wasn’t such a serious example of how Malloy has failed during his time office. When Connecticut’s families were asked to pay higher income tax rates, Malloy actually FAILED to increase the rate on those making more than $1 million dollars because, as he told a joint session of the Connecticut General Assembly, he didn’t want to “punish success.” Malloy’s failure to promote a fair and equitable tax structure is legendary and revealing. Coddling the rich and burdening the middle class on working families with a disproportionate tax burden, such as the state’s largest gas tax increase in history, are just two examples of Malloy failure when it comes to his tax policies.

The Working Families Party endorsement is disappointing but not surprising. They have proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they put politics before policy and that is a sad commentary indeed.