Press release:
Today, New York State Senator Rob Ortt, Army combat veteran, and candidate for New York’s 27th Congressional District is calling for Democrat and Working Families endorsed candidate, Nate McMurray, to give up his recent Working Families Party endorsement. Recently, the New York State Working Families Party called on candidates to “stop defending taxpayers,” and stated that using the term “taxpayer” is racist.
“Our district is home to around 710,000 ‘taxpayers’ who go to work every day to help support their families and build a better life,” Ortt said. “The fact that a candidate for New York’s 27th Congressional District would accept an endorsement from a political party that explicitly asked prospective candidates to avoid advocating for the taxpayers of our state is embarrassing.
"As elected officials, we are chosen by the taxpayers of our district to defend their best interests and do the will of the people. Any politician who accepts and endorsement from the Working Families Party clearly shows they have no interest in protecting hardworking taxpayers.”
The Working Families Party, backed by progressive donors, recently stated in the party’s 2020 questionnaire:
Messages that frame "taxpayers" as an aggrieved or marginalized group promotes an anti-tax, anti-government worldview that is often used to justify disinvestment and austerity policies. "Taxpayer" has also become a racially coded term designed to appeal to white individuals and reinforce the misconception that they are paying taxes to support the needs of people (often implied to be non-white) who don’t pay taxes. Will you avoid messaging that centers "taxpayers" or "tax burdens" and instead talk about "public funding" and the public as a whole?
Just this week, Nate McMurray accepted the endorsement of the Working Families Party line. The New York State Working Families Party has already endorsed several other candidates for 2020, including for U.S. President (Elizabeth Warren), U.S. Congress (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), and Democratic candidates for the New York State Legislature. Ortt called on all candidates running for office to denounce the Working Families Party and refuse their support. McMurray did neither.
“By accepting this endorsement, it is clear that Nate has not prioritized representing the best interests of the constituents in New York’s 27th Congressional District,” Ortt said. “Either he is ignorant of the agenda that the New York State Working Families Party stands for, or he has full knowledge of the statements made by this group and has decided that advocating for ‘taxpayers’ is racist. Either one is unacceptable and I call on him to give up his endorsement by this radically socialist party."
