May 17

, 2010Dear Fellow State Committee Members, As you know the Working Families Party has a strong interest in ensuring that the next Attorney General is independent, effective, and a true progressive. We need someone who understands andshares the values and principles of the Working Families Party in their gut, and not just when it’spolitically expedient. And most importantly, we ought to support someone who is not just a reliable vote, but it is a progressive organizer – helping to build support for our issues among elected officialsand the general public. We’ve carefully examined all the candidates in the field and we feel strongly that Eric Schneiderman’srecord of independence, his lifetime of progressive activism and his unwavering commitment to theissues and values championed by the WFP truly make him the only choice for the Working FamiliesParty’s endorsement.Eric is, and always has been, a proud member of what Paul Wellstone called “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.” He’s not afraid to stand up for unions, for the rights and dignity of workingpeople, for the critical role of the public sector in providing a social safety net and reining in theexcesses of the market. And he’s always been a vocal opponent of discrimination of any kind, whetherit’s against people of color, women, gays, lesbians, and transgender people, immigrants, seniors orpeople with disabilities.In every important fight the WFP has taken on, Eric’s been there with us. When we were fighting toraise the minimum wage, Eric not only sponsored the bill, he led rallies with WFP members aroundthe state, he forced procedural votes on the floor to embarrass Republicans for their opposition, andhe recruited and supported candidates against the Republican Chairs of the Labor Committee who were holding up the bill, first against Guy Velella and then Olga Mendez. And of course, when theSenate Republicans finally capitulated, he helped to override Governor Pataki’s veto and make theminimum wage increase law. When Mayor Bloomberg proposed instituting nonpartisan elections, Eric not only opposed themeasure; he did the research to expose how the mayor’s commission had distorted the academicevidence on nonpartisan elections, including how they disenfranchise minority communities and leadto a documented “Republican advantage.” Eric spoke against the nonpartisan elections at hearings,and at public forums and debates to educate the voters and defeat the proposal.During the 2009 budget crisis Eric was the lead sponsor of the Fair Share tax reform proposal. He went on TV and radio to defend it, taking his lumps from conservatives, and never backing down fromthe argument for economic fairness—that the wealthiest in our society need to share in the sacrificeand pay their fair share for the public services we all rely on. In the end, the fair share tax proposal was included in the budget, saving critical public services and preserving thousands of jobs. Also, Eric has shown the depth of his commitment to our party by supporting and building the WFP'sexpansion efforts in other states.Like the Working Families Party’s own David Soares, Eric has always been staunchly opposed to theRockefeller Drug Laws, and a supports of evidence based alternatives to incarceration. When theDemocrats finally took the majority in the State Senate (another long fight in which Eric was in theforefront before it was politically popular), he made sure that his bill to end the Rockefeller Drug Lawsgot passed in their first year in the majority. As Attorney General, Eric will continue to reform the