Dan Maffei didn’t expect much of a challenge in securing the nomination of the Working Families Party for the U.S. House of Representatives. He won, but the race was closer than he expected.

Maffei defeated challenger Christina Rosetti, 48 votes to 20 votes, for the opportunity to run as the Working Families Party’s nominee for the 25th Congressional District’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives last night.

He secured the Democratic Party’s nomination for the same seat in July when Paloma Capanna dropped out of the race, but decided to run on the Working Families ticket to broaden his voting base, said Mike Whyland, Maffei’s spokesman.

The Working Families Party is a labor-focused party concerned with issues like raising the minimum wage and education reform, according to the party’s Web site.

‘You have republicans who won’t pull the ‘D’ but they’ll pull for the Working Families Party,’ Whyland said. ‘We need republicans to vote for Dan, too. Even republicans are turning away.’

Now Maffei turns his attention to James Walsh, the republican incumbent who has served in the 25th Congressional District since 1988. The winner of the Nov. 7 general election will represent Onondaga County, northern Cayuga County, Wayne County and northeastern Monroe County in the House.

‘People are looking for a change,’ Maffei said. ‘Parties will matter a lot less. The candidate offering change matters more.’

The reaction at Maffei’s headquarters in North Syracuse was muted. The five campaign workers huddled around a television gradually filed out at the first indication Maffei had won. There was no celebration and no visible solace in the win.

The first stage of the campaign was finished, but the victory didn’t seem to relax Maffei as he paced in and out of the room where his volunteers had gathered. Even before his primary victory had been ensured, Maffei turned his attention to the general election. He spent most of the day Tuesday in Rochester at an event for Planned Parenthood before driving back to Syracuse to catch the primary results at his campaign headquarters.

Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, Maffei is still the Democratic Party’s nominee to oppose Walsh. Winning the Working Families Party nomination simply widens his appeal to voters who may not like the Democratic Party, Maffei said.

After no one opposed Walsh in 2004, Maffei said he is offering a choice to the voters in the 25th district who may not approve of Walsh’s job or the agenda of the Republican Party.

He said he believes the number of voters wanting change is high, using President George W. Bush’s approval rating as evidence. In the most recent Gallup poll, 39 percent of respondents approved of Bush’s job as president.

‘I don’t think we need a motorboat to win this race,’ Maffei said. ‘We need a surfboard.’

Rosetti said she thought she was offering even more change than Maffei, but didn’t have the venue to express those ideas. She didn’t have a campaign headquarters or many volunteers to publicize her platform. Rosetti hoped to be included in the debates between Maffei and Walsh so she could ‘bring to the table new ideas and make them stick.’

Rosetti has never held an elected office, but has campaigned to be president twice before. This was also her second campaign for the House. She first ran for the House in 2004, but did not make the ballot.

‘I’m not impressed with either of the people,’ Rosetti said. ‘Dan Maffei associates with people that discredit him. That’s why I got on the ballot.’

Published on September 12, 2006 at 12:00 pm