Arcuri in Hot Water

I’d like to present this post as a follow-up to my earlier musings about local congressional Democrats and their union-backed special interest supporters. In the aftermath of the vote on health care legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Working Families Party and their labor union allies have gone to work.

In the case of “yes” voters, like Congressmen Dan Maffei and Bill Owens, labor unions have gone out of their way to heap praise. However, in the case of Congressman Mike Arcuri, who demonstrated independence from his party leadership in voting “no,” something very different is afoot. Labor unions are pulling support for Arcuri and the Working Families Party (the ballot line that provided Arcuri with his margin of victory in 2006 and 2008) will not be supporting Arcuri this year either. In fact, there is an effort to recruit former candidate Les Roberts to primary Mr. Arcuri, or at least run an active campaign on the WFP line.

With the loss of support from labor unions and the WFP and a tough rematch with Republican Richard Hanna, plus the possibility of a third party challenge, Congressman Arcuri is feeling the heat for his political independence on this vote.