Working Families Party confronts its own mystery candidate in tight Hudson Valley Congressional race

Members of the New York Working Families Party finally got to confront their own congressional candidate in a hotly contested Hudson Valley district where the election could be determined by the smallest of margins.

WFP officials suspect that Anthony Frascone, who unexpectedly won the third-party primary in June, is a Republican plant meant to take votes away from Democrat Mondaire Jones and tip the race for incumbent GOP Rep. Mike Lawler. Frascone has not campaigned, does not have a website and is not fundraising.

On Monday, WFP officials knocked on Frascone’s door in Rockland County and asked their nominee: What’s your platform?

“My platform is Jesus Christ,” Frascone replied.

The bizarre encounter captured on video only added to the intrigue surrounding the mystery candidate.

Frascone, a one-time Republican, was fueled to victory by a last-minute surge in new voters from Rockland County who registered with the left-leaning third party just days before the registration deadline. The New York Times later reported that Lawler’s district director reached out in early June to hundreds of the congressmember’s Orthodox Jewish supporters about registering to vote.

Earlier this month, Gothamist spoke with Frascone’s neighbors, who were shocked to learn he was running for office.

The Working Families Party is now caught in the awkward position of campaigning against its own candidate. The third party often supports Democratic candidates and lets them collect votes on the WFP line — but in New York’s 17th Congressional District, the party is urging supporters to vote for Jones on the Democratic line.

In the video, WFP co-Director Ana María Archila tried to ask Frascone about his plans should he win and why he hasn’t campaigned.

Frascone said he was running the campaign himself, but that “the finance is very hard to do.”

The officials asked about his positions on key Working Families Party issues. On taxing the rich, Frascone replied, “I support that everybody should pay their fair share.” On health care for immigrants, Frascone said, “We have to come to this country legally, according to the Constitution and that’s all I’ll say.”

Frascone tried to cut the conversation short, but a visibly annoyed Archila said the group wanted to have a real conversation with him.

“This is not a joke, right. This is a real election that has real consequences for the country,” she told him.

“The role you are playing is to spoil the election in one of the tightest districts in the country, so we want to understand what your intentions really are.”

Frascone insisted that was incorrect and that instead he was trying to spread the love of God, “through the way the gospel teaches me and to show how them (sic) how much I love each other.”

Before he could close the door, the party members gave him a cup of coffee and doughnuts, standard fuel for a political campaign.

They also presented him with a sign: "Frascone Fake Candidate.”