Thank you.
We defied the odds on election night -- and together, we sent a clear message that our elected leaders need to put New York City's working families first.
More people voted on the Working Families Party ballot line than in any New York City election in our party's history.
Working Families-endorsed candidates Bill de Blasio and John Liu were overwhelmingly elected to the City's second and third highest offices, where we know they will be strong voices for a more progressive New York.
And with the WFP's help, a new generation of grassroots community organizers joined the City Council -- including Jimmy Van Bramer, Jumaane Williams, Debi Rose, Ydanis Rodriguez, Steve Levin, Brad Lander, Danny Dromm, Fernando Cabrera, and more. We're also thrilled about what the future holds for inspiring candidates who ran strong races solely on the Working Families ballot line, such as Mark Winston-Griffith and Lynn Schulman.
And then there was the Mayor's race.
When the WFP sent out an e-mail message saying that the Thompson-Bloomberg contest would be "a stunningly tight election," political pundits scoffed. Yesterday we proved them wrong.
While Bill Thompson didn't win, he gave the Mayor a run for his money -- literally. As Working Families voters, we can be proud that our support for Thompson helped turn a predicted blowout into an all-night nail-biter. And we're even more proud of our grassroots organizers who took leaves of absence to help run a major Obama-style turnout drive for Thompson in the final weeks of the campaign.
But most importantly, the tight mayoral vote sent Mayor Bloomberg a message: If he wants a successful third term, he's going to have to make New York City work for everyone.
Working Families leaders like de Blasio, Liu, and our new City Councilmembers aren't going to roll over when the Mayor wants to give tax breaks to developers, or ignore living wage and affordable housing laws, or hype a handful of successful charter schools while the other 98% of students in our public schools have to struggle.
The Working Families Party is already leading the charge to give every New Yorker the right to take a day off from work when sick. If you want to join us in this fight and help us win many more progressive victories to come,please take a moment to contribute to the WFP.
Together, we have sent a clear message to our city leaders that it's time to put working families first again. Let's keep the change going.
Thank you again!