The Democratic ticket of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman was endorsed Tuesday by the Working Families Party, whose cross-endorsement was crucial to their narrow victory in 2010.
Jonathan Pelto, a former Democratic legislator running as a third-party candidate for governor, also had sought the endorsement, though the union-backed WFP was expected to stay with Malloy, who played a pivotal role in the passage of paid sick day legislation sought by the party.
“Over the last four years, we have been honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Working Families Party as we worked to become the first state to enact paid sick leave, the first state to commit to increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, and continued our commitment to protecting the rights of workers to organize and fight for fair wages and good benefits,” Malloy and Wyman said in a joint statement.
Pelto called the endorsement unfortunate, but not surprising.
“Rather than hold Malloy responsible for his anti-working family policies, the group has thrown their support behind an incumbent who has squandered the opportunity to stand up and do the right thing for the real working families of Connecticut,” Pelto said.
Malloy defeated Republican Tom Foley in the state’s closest gubernatorial election in 56 years, but he would have lost without most of the 26,308 votes he received on the WFP line. Without those votes, Foley outpolled Malloy, 560,874 to 540,970.
With his Democratic and WFP votes, the governor won by 6,404 votes out of more than 1.1 million cast.