The Independent View: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Gets Greenlight to Run on Working Families Party Ticket

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio scored an Electoral Win when the State's Highest Court Ruled he could remain on the Minor Working Families Party (WFP) Line for the Election, because New York uses Fusion Voting, which allows a Candidate to appear on Multiple Party Lines and the Candidate Votes are aggregated for the Total Votes Cast.

The State Court of Appeals was being asked to Boot de Blasio from the Line because the WFP did not meet State Law when it comes to giving its Line to a Non-Member, by issuing a Wilson Pakula.

A Wilson Pakula is an Authorization given by a Political Party to a Candidate for Public Office in the State of New York that allows the Candidate not Registered with that Party to Run as its Candidate in a Given Election.
The name refers to the Wilson Pakula Act of 1947, Authored by State Senator Irwin Pakula and then-Assemblyman and future Governor Malcolm Wilson, which forbids Candidates from Receiving the Nomination of a Political Party if they are not Registered as a Member of that Party, unless they receive Permission to enter the Primary, or General if no other Candidate, from Party Officials Representing a Majority of the Vote in the Jurisdiction

State Law requires a Party have County Committees in each of the City's Five Boroughs Jointly Awarded the Line to Non-Members in a Citywide Race.

Two Lower Courts Dismissed the Case with a Technical Finding that the Working Families Party State Executive Board wasn't served the Legal Papers. A day after Hearing Oral Arguments in Albany, the Court of Appeals Unanimously Upheld the Lower Court Rulings.

"We agree that petitioners' failure to name as respondent the Executive Board of the Working Families Party results in dismissal, and we therefore affirm," the Decision said.

Upon learning of the Decision, de Blasio Campaign spokesman, Dan Levitan, said that “we are proud of our campaign's strong support from the progressive Working Families Party and their tens of thousands of supporters across the city, and we are happy that this is resolved."

James Walsh, who Represented Robert Morgan, who brought the Case, said he was Disappointed in the Decision, but conceded there's nothing further that can be done. "I think the Board of Elections should have done this on their own," Walsh said.