Ganong: Vote for what you believe, without wasting your vote. Sarah Ganong wants voters to pick a Democrat without voting ​“Democrat” in some races this election.Ganong is urging people to choose candidates running on the Working Families Party line. The pro-labor, progressive party aims to push the Democratic Party leftward on statewide issues.The party has endorsed 84 candidates for federal and state office in Connecticut for the Nov. 5 general election. Eighty-two are Democrats; the other two include an independent running for a state legislative seat against a Republican (but not a Democrat), and a candidate for a municipal registrar of voters post.U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is among the cross-endorsed candidates. New Haven U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro did not seek the party’s endorsement this year. The WFP is particularly focusing on trying to help reelect Democratic U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes in her rematch against Republican challenger George Logan in northwestern Connecticut.“A vote on the WFP line is a vote for universal paid sick days,” Ganong, the party’s state director, said during an interview Thursday on WNHHFM’s ​“Dateline New Haven” program.That was the one ​“litmus test issue” among 80 questions the party posed to candidates seeking their endorsement this year. The legislature passed an updated paid sick days law in 2024 that will cover most workers statewide within three years. Eight Democrats voted against that bill; Ganong said endorsements reward others who voted yes and support a pro-paid leave majority in the future.Other key WFP positions reflected in this year’s endorsements include promoting affordable housing, universal health care, and ​“predictable scheduling” for workers.In addition to working on Connecticut races, WFP members have worked on phone banking to Pennsylvania voters.Ganong has worked for the party since 2017. She showed up at the state Capitol to support the passage of an increased minimum wage and the paid sick leave law, among other legislation.“I think the thing that I’ve really learned is politics is both local and national” in that time, Ganong said. ​“People are motivated to fix their own communities, and they’re also motivated to do work to influence the direction of the country.”Ganong said she enjoys knocking on voters’ doors, including a recent stint finding common ground with some independent and Republican voters about a state legislative race in Stratford.“I really do believe there’s a lot more that brings people together across race, across class, across gender, across ethnic background, than divides us. It’s very easy in this political climate to not feel that way. [But] everybody wants clean air. Everybody wants good schools. Everybody wants their kids to be happy. Everybody wants their community to be safe.”Click here to learn more about the party.Click on the video below to watch the full discussion with Working Families Party State Director Sarah Ganong on WNHHFM’s ​“Dateline New Haven.” (Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of ​“Dateline New Haven.”)