Ever wonder what a train wreck would look like if it happened on Mars? The campaign for New York City mayor by Dianne Morales hit a little rough patch on Tuesday. In fact, it kinda-sorta blew up. Several staffers working for the non-profit executive up and left because they weren’t getting paid.
The campaign manager, Whitney Hu, also resigned, complaining about the way the campaign treated black and brown people. Specifically, one person reportedly close to Morales apparently didn’t demonstrate the proper sensitivity…or something. Hu had threatened to resign if the person wasn’t fired by Morales. Morales didn’t budge and Hu left in a huff.
Hu is also being sued — for libel and slander — by a NYC rapper.
The snowflakes on the campaign were also concerned about forming a union and with getting health insurance benefits. It all got to be too much for them and Morales sent out a Slack message giving the staff the entire day off — less than a month before the primary election — saying it was “time for self-care.”
Two sources, including one on the Morales campaign, said there were allegations of abusive behavior from campaign leadership and even the candidate herself. The two sources also said there was alleged inappropriate behavior from a staffer who was perceived as being close to Morales. Those sources along with a progressive activist who similarly requested anonymity said those issues were supposed to be addressed at a meeting on Monday night. However, Morales didn’t attend that meeting, adding to her staff’s anger.
“It was like an accountability meeting and she skipped it,” the activist said.
Not very woke of her, that’s for sure. This is a candidate who has promised to improve conditions at work for black and brown people. And here she is in her own campaign being accused of terrible working conditions for black and brown people.
Someone might want to whisper in the ears of these young people that a campaign that spends money on health insurance for its staffers is a losing campaign — as is the notion that campaign workers can form a union. By the time they’re able to hold a union vote, primary day will have come and gone and they will be out of a job.
That’s because Morales is sitting at 7 percent in the polls with half a dozen candidates above her. So the last thing the candidate needed was a staff kerfuffle and the appearance of her very woke, very correct campaign being staffed by racists, sexual harassers, and bullies.
“Traditional political spaces have long disenfranchised Black and Brown people on campaigns,” the candidate wrote to her 48,289 followers. “Our campaign works to intentionally center the voices of those who are excluded from politics and we acknowledge that mistakes have been made in our attempts to do this.”
“We believe in transformative justice in our city and on this campaign,” she added. “As such, we are taking the necessary steps to address harm caused by certain staff on our campaign and to build accountability, and will continue to work toward building a movement of dignity, care and solidarity.”
Dignity, care, and solidarity are all wonderful goals. But first, you gotta win. And this is a campaign that was a failure before it even started.
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