Members of New York’s Working Families Party and the United Auto Workers union rallied in Ithaca on Sunday, making final pleas to voters just days before the election.
Democrats are also listed down the ballot on the Working Families Party line in the city of Ithaca. That includes incumbent state Assemblymember Anna Kelles, state Senator Lea Webb, and Democratic congressional candidate Josh Riley, who were all present at the event.
Riley is running against Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro for New York’s 19th Congressional District.
Riley told attendees that even though New York isn’t considered a swing state, the outcome of his race will have a significant impact on national politics.
“Our district, this race right here, is going to decide who controls the House of Representatives. We get to decide it together. We get to work on it together,” he said.
Molinaro also campaigned across the district over the weekend, at several events with House Speaker Mike Johnson and former Congressman Lee Zeldin.
Both Riley and Molinaro ran for the seat in 2022, which Molinaro won by fewer than 5,000 votes.
The rematch has been both highly contentious and expensive. Over $35 million has been spent on ads for both candidates, according to reporting from Politico.
Both the UAW and the Working Families Party have also endorsed Kamala Harris for president. But, as some speakers at the rally pointed out, that does not mean they are happy with all of her policies.
UAW Regional Director Daniel Vicente said Democrats have taken the union vote for granted, along with the votes of Black and Latino Americans. However, he said a vote for Harris is a vote against the “existential threat to democracy” of the Trump administration.
“I am equally tired of both political parties. I can't stand the Democrats just as much as I can't stand the Republicans,” he said. “But when it comes down to it, we have a two-party system for worse, not for better.”
Vicente said Democrats need to get back to the “foundations of the party,” advocating for policies that strengthen the middle class.
“We have to get this woman elected, and afterwards, we have to look at real reform in the Democrats or we have to look at third-party options going forward,” he said.
Ana María Archila, the director of the New York Working Families Party, said that voting for Democratic candidates on the Working Families Party line can help convey that desire for reform.
“It's a vote that elevates the urgency of a government that addresses the things that working families need, like access to child care, access to health care, good jobs, a planet we can live on, and an end to the war in Gaza,” she said.
During her speech at the rally, Archila said voters are faced with two imperfect choices.
“We have to remember that our votes are not some act of self expression. That's what poetry is for, that's what music is for, or painting. Our votes are acts of radical care for one another, and they are a strategy. They are not a love letter,” she said.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5.