Hochul quietly signs bill to stop conservatives from hijacking WFP ballot line
In New York, one of only two states to regularly employ fusion voting, the apparent hijacking of third-party lines has been all the rage the past two years. It has been a particular thorn in the side of the New York Working Families Party, which has seen people with no apparent ties to the progressive party win their ballot line, to the detriment of Democrats. But Gov. Kathy Hochul quietly signed a new law earlier this month meant to stop this from happening in the future.
The phenomenon first became a high-profile issue in 2024, when Anthony Frascone beat out former Rep. Mondaire Jones for the WFP ballot line in his comeback bid for Congress. Party officials had no idea who Frascone was, and he had voted with the Independence and Republican Parties in the past. Frascone didn’t run a campaign and few even laid eyes on him during the race. In the end, WFP leaders encouraged their own voters in the Hudson Valley not to vote on the WFP line and accused Republicans of planting Frascone to block Jones from appearing on the WFP line, as Democrats generally do. A handful of similar apparent hijacking incidents have happened since then.
Until now, the WFP has had no recourse when someone with no apparent ties to the party attempts to gain access to its ballot line. Such ballot hijackings are usually addressed by a party’s local county committees, which the WFP does not have. That is where state Sen. Pete Harckham and Assembly Member Dana Levenberg came in.
The two legislators introduced a bill this year that would permit a state party to take action in the absence of a county party. They specifically cited the Frascone case in a memo accompanying the bill.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/12/hochul-quietly-signs-bill-stop-conservatives-hijacking-wfp-ballot-line/410403/?oref=csny-skybox-hp