Leaning into the left with NYS WFP Director Jasmine Gripper

As discussion of the Democratic Socialist wave in New York City continues to steer conversation, many may have overlooked an earlier political disruptor group: the Working Families Party (WFP), built on the legacy of union and labor grassroots organizing. Current WFP state director Jasmine Gripper is excited to see the city leaning even more to the “left” of the political spectrum.  

The city’s WFP has evolved over the decades since its creation in 1998. Referred to as an “upstart third party” at the time, it is now a recognized party line with ballot access, not just fringe independents.

Initially, it was made up of unions, including the United Auto Workers (UAW), Communication Workers of America (CWA) District One; Hotel Trades Council; Greater New York PAC Laborers District Council; Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU); Local 1199 and Local 32BJ SEIU (Service Employees International Union); United Steelworkers; United Federation of Teachers; Amalgamated Transit Workers Union; Transport Workers Union (TWU); and UNITE Amalgamated NE Joint Board.

The WFP had its hand in multiple political fights and pushed its candidates in races. 

The WFP was behind NYS Attorney General, then-Councilmember, Letitia James, who was first elected in 2003 running solely on the WFP ballot line. The party was involved in the 2009 public advocate election and the 2019 public advocate election that saw the rise of Jumaane Williams to higher office, much to the chagrin of established Democrats. They became huge rivals with the now dismantled Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), Democratic state senators allegedly caucusing with the Republicans, in 2014. The WFP was also instrumental in getting Democratic control of the state’s Senate in 2018, as well as former Congressmember Jamaal Bowman’s win in 2020. 

“When the party started, New York City had a Republican mayor. New York State had Republican control of our state Senate,” said Gripper. “We were not this bastion of blue progressivism that we think we were, and I think the Working Families Party was essential to shifting the ground here in New York to now have this Democratic trifecta, now beyond just Democrats — this progressive wave and movement. There [are] landmarks along the way of how that has happened — the election of [Bill de] Blasio, when we took out the IDC, getting [Andrew] Cuomo out of office, to now electing Zohran [Mamdani].”

In terms of polling, Gripper said that the label “progressive” just doesn’t hit the same level with voters anymore, though. She considers the WFP the “party that is building power for the working poor.” Full stop.

“The Democrats have always been afraid of the left,” said Gripper. “The Democrats sometimes spend more time fighting the left than they do fighting Republicans, which is the most frustrating. I’ve always been a believer that you don’t have to be afraid of the left wing of the party and actually [should] welcome us to the table because we’re not trying to kill the party. We’re trying to make life better for working-class New Yorkers and the Democrats have been struggling.”

Gripper, 43, was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. She studied to be a teacher, traveling overseas to teach English in South Korea in 2006, Kuwait in 2008, and the United Arab Emirates in 2010. She briefly returned to the city to teach at a small charter school, but left to become a campus organizer for former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012. She moved in with her grandmother in Cleveland, in battleground Ohio, to make sure that people got the vote out. She remembers a lot of energy and excitement about the high-stakes presidential election.

“My grandmother was really proud to see me working on such a historic campaign. She was really happy to have one of her grandchildren come live with her, which she had always wanted. On a personal note, my grandmother passed away shortly after the campaign,” said Gripper.

After the Obama campaign ended, Gripper returned to New York to be an organizer at the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), a statewide parent and education organization. She worked with Robert Jackson in his fiscal equity lawsuit for public schools before he was elected to the state Senate. 

“We had won the lawsuit,” said Gripper. “The state rewrote the formula and then never fully funded it, so we spent years battling Andrew Como, fighting for school funding, trying to end the school-to-prison pipeline, advocating for pre-K and childcare.”  

Continuing the trend of being a major thorn in former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s side, the AQE and WFP were involved with the Cynthia Nixon campaign for Governor in 2018. “Part of that was like we understood that we would never win the school funding fight if we didn’t change the politics of Albany, and nobody was changing the politics in Albany, except the Working Families Party,” said Gripper.

In 2020, Gripper became executive director of AQE during the pandemic. She continued to lead the fight for school funding against state cuts, found resources for home learning for students, scored the first iteration of personal income tax on millionaires, achieved bail reform, and advocated for Cuomo’s resignation, she said. 

Gripper was elected co-director of WFP in 2023 along with Ana María Archila, who was appointed to Mamdani’s Commissioner for International Affairs this February 2026. Archila’s exit bumped Gripper up to sole state director recently. 

The first order of business was backing the mission to flip five congressional seats in 2024 elections from Republican to Democrat. Then in 2025, the WFP targeted former Mayor Eric Adams and Cuomo in the primary election by endorsing a slate of candidates, including Mamdani.

“That was ultimately successful in keeping the left from being divided, stopping the candidates of the billionaire, and to help Zohran emerge as the next mayor. Really proud of that moment,” said Gripper. 

Gripper asserted that there are, of course, ebbs and flows in politics, but voters in New York tend to take the “Blue state” status for granted having lived in a battleground state during a presidential election year. 

“Now we’re continuing to build our power, build our movement, and grow our ranks in the state legislature. At the end of the day, it’s about our commitment to win tangible change in the lives of New Yorkers. The thing I can say about the party from its history is that the party has been at the helm of every major fight that has meant real relief for working families,” Gripper said. “From the minimum wage fight to paid sick days and paid family leave to the fights for education and campaign finance reform … and we still have a long way to go. The affordability crisis is worse than we could have ever imagined. The rent is too high or homeownership feels out of reach for many New Yorkers.”

Fighting disenfranchisement among voters

Whether Democrats or Republicans have been in charge, though, Gripper said there has always been a level of voter disenfranchisement targeted toward Black and Brown voters and low-income voters. She said the status quo of the current political system disappoints a lot of voters who care about making a fair wage, housing, and affordability. 

“We’ve always tried to make sure our folks understand that they have a right to participate in our democracy … and sometimes that takes convincing, because I’ve been outside and people [say] ‘I don’t vote. It doesn’t matter. Who cares?’ And I believe that’s true. I think the Democratic establishment has let us down in the same way that Republicans have,” said Gripper.

To move the needle on policy issues, the WFP prioritizes taxing the rich.

“Every New Yorker deserves quality housing. We all deserve healthcare we can rely on. We all deserve childcare for our children and our families. New York has always been a place, and should continue to be a place, where immigrants are welcome,” said Gripper. “That is essential to being a healthy New York and the things that I … get annoyed about is [that] gentrification didn’t just happen; people allowed it to happen.” 

Sometimes doorknocking gets it done

Over the past 30 years, the evolution of technology has affected how grassroots organizations pool support. Many have deployed new tools to mobilize voters, such as digital canvassing platforms to identify supporters, like MiniVAN, texting campaigns, and virtual engagements.

“Nothing still beats face-to-face conversations with people and meeting them at the doors. Texting voters doesn’t land as well as talking to them on the phone, and that doesn’t land as good as it is to meet them at the door and talk to them on their stoop,” said Gripper. 

The WFP, like many progressive and socialist organizations, is notorious for its hordes of volunteers. “We still knock [on] doors. It’s still a core tactic of ours and, I think, the entire movement. I think Obama was the one who demonstrated the power of community organizing and door-knocking. I think that playbook is still the playbook,” said Gripper. 

Gripper said that part of what was compelling and great about Mamdani’s mayoral campaign was how he leveraged social media with good-quality content that was engaging, had a plan that targeted his core voters, and was present in the community. 

“I see my role as supporting the Black electors who we help to get into office and making sure that they’re governing well and that they have the resources and tools that they need to be successful, while also working with them to develop the bench of who’s coming behind them and making sure that we are building up folks from our communities to do the work, to know how to to run politics on our behalf,” said Gripper.

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