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Syracuse, N.Y. Ben Walsh has asked the Working Families Party for its nomination for mayor as he seeks a path to re-election in November.

Walsh, who is not registered with a political party, said he will also keep pursuing efforts to secure his own line on the ballot.

As an independent with a proven track record of putting the needs of the people of Syracuse ahead of party politics, I see strong alignment with the Working Families Party, Walsh said Tuesday. I admire and share their commitment to inclusive governance and creating opportunity for all and I look forward to participating in their process.

The party will hold interviews with mayoral candidates this Saturday, Feb. 6. Both of the Democratic mayoral candidates -- Khalid Bey and Michael Greene -- will also interview with WFP this weekend, according to David Knapp, chair of the partys local club.

The local committee has about 30 active club members who will vote on mayoral candidates later this month, Knapp said. Many of those members are registered Democrats, Knapp said. The party has typically endorsed Democrats.

As a political independent, Walsh either needs the blessing of an established party or needs to collect a huge sum of signatures from voters to get on the ballot this year.

The Working Families Party is one of only four parties with a permanent ballot line this year, along with the Republicans, Democrats and Conservatives.

Changes to state election law last year eliminated all other minor parties from the ballot last year, including the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and the Independence Party.

Knapp said his party is aiming to grow its organization in upstate New York and is interviewing candidates for scores of local positions.

The WFP endorsement would give Walsh a surefire line on Novembers ballot. Without it, hell need to rely solely on his efforts to make his own line.

In the 2017 election, Walsh secured three lines on the ballot. He was endorsed by the Reform Party and won a write-in campaign for the Independence Partys line. Both of those parties lost ballot access due to new rules last year.

He also collected nearly 2,500 petition signatures to create his own line with the Upstate Jobs Party.

Walsh has said he plans to pass petitions to create his own ballot line again this year. Its still unclear how many petition signatures Walsh will need to collect for that.

In 2017, he needed 1,349 signatures. The threshold is determined by the number of registered voters in the city, and is usually a moving target.

Last year, however, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order drastically reducing the number of signatures candidates needed to collect to qualify for the 2020 ballot. It was an effort to stymy the spread of Covid-19, especially in the early days of the pandemic. Going door-to-door seemed a likely way to spread germs.

The state Senate passed a bill last week slashing thresholds for candidates seeking to get on a partys ballot line by 70% this year. That means Democrats and Republicans will need to collect fewer signatures later this winter when they pass designating petitions.

But the bill, sponsored by Sen. Rachel May, did not address the independent petitions a candidate needs to create his or her own line. The deadlines for those petitions come later in the political season than party petitions, so its possible more legislation could come.

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Ben Walsh appeals to Working Families Party in effort to get on Novembers mayoral ballot - syracuse.com