Last month, Yonkers City Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac kicked off her campaign for Yonkers Mayor. Shortly after, she received the endorsement from the Working Families Party, WFP, of Yonkers and Westchester. “I am honored that the Working Families Party has endorsed my campaign to bring new leadership to the City of Yonkers,” said Pineda-Issac.
But Pineda-Isaac’s WFP petitions were deemed invalid. With less than 500 WFP registered voters in Yonkers, Pineda-Isaac’s campaign, or the Working Families Party of Westchester, had to obtain 25 valid signatures to secure a spot on the ballot. That didn’t happen.
After getting knocked off the ballot, the leadership of the Working Families Party complained about what happened. “The New York Working Families Party strongly supports our endorsed candidate, Corazón Pineda Isaac, as the next Mayor of Yonkers, and we reject attempts by Mayor Mike Spano to subvert our party and pack it with people who do not share our values,” said Peter Bernstein, Chair of the WFP-Westchester.
But Mayor Mike Spano’s campaign had nothing to do with the fact that Pineda-Isaac and the WFP handed in signatures that were invalid and did not qualify her to appear of the WFP.
We have been writing this for 20 years, candidates must get enough valid signatures to get on the ballot. If you can’t overcome that obstacle, you can’t serve in the office you are running for.