Working Families Party endorses Congressman Murphy

The Working Families Party endorsed Democrat Scott Murphy this week ahead of this fall’s election.

Murphy currently represents New York’s 20th Congressional District and will face off with Republican Chris Gibson this November.

Murphy won the seat last year in a special election to replace Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to New York’s junior senator seat after President Barack Obama selected Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state.

Karen Scharff is co-chair of the Capital Region Chapter of the Working Families Party. She says Murphy has earned the endorsement through his actions in the House of Representatives.

“The party is supporting Scott Murphy because he supports working families when it counts,” she said in a prepared statement.

“Scott stood up to ‘big oil’ and voted for landmark clean energy legislation,” Scharff added. “He stood up to the health insurance lobbyists and voted for health care reform that will give tax credits to 15,000 businesses in this district and give health coverage for the first time to 20,000 people. We need to send Scott back to Washington to keep fighting for middle class New Yorkers.”

Murphy said he’s honored to receive the party’s support.

“I pledge to continue fighting to ease the burden on New York’s small businesses and middle class families so we can work together to renew the upstate economy,” he said in a press release.

The party also endorsed Democratic Representative Bill Owens in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.

The Working Families Party has received some negative attention in the press as of late.

The left-leaning, labor-backed party is closely aligned with the Democratic Party and is currently the target of a federal investigation. Earlier this month, the group enacted several internal reforms at the behest of Chief State Judge Judith Kaye.

The party’s reputation also took a hit following a snub by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who said he wouldn’t accept their endorsement until the federal investigation concludes and he has time to assess the situation.