Mayoral Candidate Dianne Morales’ Statement on Working Families Party Endorsement Announcement
By: Dianne Morales
Tags: Politics, Elections, NYC

Mayoral Candidate Dianne Morales’ Statement on Working Families Party Endorsement Announcement

New York City has had 109 mayors. All white and male, with the exception of Mayor David Dinkins. Some people would like to believe that doesn’t matter. But in 2021, New York City is home to the most segregated school system in the nation. We have the widest economic wealth gap in the country. Black and Brown New Yorkers lead our protests and our recovery, while fighting a city designed to keep them unsafe, unhealthy and undervalued. Immigrant New Yorkers are the backbone of our city, even as we fail to protect them from ICE in our streets, our courtrooms and their homes. Queer youth of color are the lifeline of our movements, yet we insist on ignoring their contributions, criminalizing their joy and policing their actions. Sixty percent of our city are women. The majority of them are women of color. The majority of them are working class. Yet they must work twice as hard to be seen as the leaders they are. Three times as hard for their intersectional lives to be heard.

And four times as hard to be Mayor.

I knew all of that when I started. I knew that my community was good enough to be used as backdrops for other people’s campaigns, but not supported enough to drive us towards a city that works for the majority of us. I’ve seen how our power is robbed by those who think they know better than us because we don’t have the cash, the clout or the connections. But you know what I’ve also seen: I’ve seen the unrelenting movement of a people. My people — working people — who have made a decision that something must change. Something must shift. And the time for that shift is now.

We have a diverse field of candidates, but I’m not like any other candidate in this race. My viability doesn’t come from the establishment, Wall Street or the political elite, but from the working class community. A community that, right now, needs a future that prioritizes them moving forward, not backwards. A community that is claiming its power and telling its own story. The one that the political chattering class works so hard to undermine.

It matters that I have more donations from New Yorkers than any other candidate. It matters that I have the most donors from Brooklyn and the Bronx. It matters that thirty percent of my donors are unemployed. It matters that I have more teachers donating to me than any other candidate. It matters that the most frequent donation to my campaign is $10. Anyone who doesn’t believe this matters hasn’t faced what the majority of New Yorkers face on a daily basis.

And anyone who still believes I’m not viable, doesn’t know my People.

Last night, I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions as the Working Families Party voted me as their number two pick. The little engine that pundits try to erase, write off (or not write about at all) is in the top three. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about what is at stake for the 8.5 million New Yorkers that can’t afford people telling them that they should settle for the status quo or the “safe bet.” I went into the endorsement seeking the number one pick for the people who have been telling me how much needs to change so they don’t have to keep fighting a city they love. New York’s working families need to know there’s finally a candidate that will make them a top priority. Over real estate. Over profits and special interests. Over everything.

We are the underdogs, so naturally we are always dismissed. The people I call family and neighbors have always been placed far behind business and political interests by our city’s leadership. The proof is in the data. But you know what happens when a whole bunch of number twos come together? We form an army. And we vote for our futures, not with our fears.

I believe that we will win. And as a single mother, former teacher, and proud Black Latina, I will keep fighting for politics for all people. The kind of politics every working-class family deserves.

-Dianne