Search PEP Archives | December 2002 Table of Contents | Public Employee Press Archives | Home Getting out the vote 2002 DC 37 volunteers and Ms. Roberts (center) gather Nov. 5 after a morning of campaining in Ebbets Field, Brooklyn. They are joined by (back row from left) City Council member James Davis and Brooklyn State Senator Carl Andrews and State Assembly member Roger L. Green, who both won their elections with support from the union activists. By DIANE S. WILLIAMS The DC 37 Green Machine ran at full throttle Nov. 5 in its citywide effort to get out the vote. More than 1,100 DC 37 volunteers worked from dawn to 9 p.m., when the polls closed, to help union-endorsed candidates win two out of the three statewide races. The union also helped 95 percent of its endorsed candidates get elected to the United States Congress and the State Legislature. "We can be proud that we fought the fine fight," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, who campaigned with members in all five boroughs on Election Day. "DC 37 is back as a political power to be reckoned with in New York City's political arena." In field operations run by newly appointed Political Action and Legislation Director Wanda Williams and PAC Chair Leonard Allen, DC 37 volunteers distributed literature from door to door, at subway and bus stops, in malls and on the streets. In the weeks before the vote activists staffed computerized phone banks daily to urge fellow members to get involved and vote, participated in lunchtime leafleting, campaigned for our endorsed candidates and coordinated New York City Labor field operation for Senator Guy Velella. On Election Day, the union showed its strength by putting a record number of volunteers on the streets. L. 1549's Annette Nelson (l.) and Lucy Gardner distributed leaflets as others placed calls at union phonebanks and knocked on doors to get out the vote. DC 37-endorsed candidate Eliot L. Spitzer swept the race for state Attorney General, and received the most votes in the state. Alan Hevesi, who said DC 37 support made the difference for him in the tightest statewide election, became the first city comptroller to win the state Comptroller's seat. Other political victories for the union included having 17 of its 18 endorsed congressional candidates win seats. An upset was the victory of DC 37 endorsed Democrat Timothy Bishop, who beat out Republican incumbent Felix J. Grucci in the 1st Congrssional District. Despite record low voter turnout nationwide, DC 37 helped candidate Carl McCall outpace incumbent Gov. George E. Pataki within the city limits, where McCall won the contest in all boroughs except Staten Island. Still, the union's efforts couldn't win a gubernatorial contest beset with problems that included insufficient funds, a lack of cohesion among labor unions and what many perceived as indifference on the part of the Democratic Party. DC 37's Green Machine helped Martin Malave Dilan (3rd from l.) coast to victory to become State Senator of District 17 in Brooklyn. Now that the dust has settled and Governor Pataki has won a third term, it remains to be seen how he will handle the state's future: Political pundits cite problems like New York State's estimated $10 to $12 billion budget deficit; whether Mr. Pataki will be able to keep the promises he made to win support from some unions, and if he will fully address issues such as education, the state economy and employment, which he managed to avoid during his lackluster though successful campaign. And in the political system of checks and balances, whichever direction Gov. Pataki takes to tackle the problems that assail the state, he will have to work with the Legislature, including the heavily Democratic Assembly.