Public Employee Press

Election results
Local victories, national loss
All but the BIG one

DC 37 helped 98 percent of its endorsed candidates win NY, but Dems lost White House bid by 2 percent.

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

The DC 37 Green Machine of 1,000 volunteers carried 100 of 103 union-endorsed candidates to victory in political contests throughout New York.

But the Democratic Party, despite unparalleled support from labor and grassroots organizations and a record number of newly registered voters, fell short in the big one — and failed to defeat President George W. Bush.

“DC 37 mobilized more volunteers than ever before, New York voters were energized like never before — that kind of people power sends a message,” said Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

Union volunteers were busy on city streets from the Bronx to Staten Island, in phone banks and at field sites citywide. New Yorkers voted 58 percent for Kerry, beating Bush by 18 percent.

DC 37 helped elected one of its own — SSEU Local 371’s Diane Savino— to replace a Republican as State Senator for Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. DC 37 also helped Democrats take a big step toward majority status in the State Senate by electing Jeffrey Klein in the Bronx and reelecting powerful incumbents like Clarence Norman of Brooklyn and Ada L. Smith of Queens. And New Yorkers chose José Serrano for Congress and re-elected U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and U.S. Representative Charles Rangel.

Democrats, citizens’ groups and labor unions like DC 37’s parent AFSCME put resources and thousands of volunteers behind John Kerry. The states most affected by 9/11 — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania — voted overwhelmingly for the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

Still, the election results left Kerry supporters — and the world — stunned to find Bush reelected to a second term by a 2 percent margin.

Volunteer election monitors, more than 20,000 lawyers and activists nationwide, noted problems such as broken voting machines, names dropped from registration books, 10-hour waiting lines and other challenges that could disenfranchise registered voters.

Though exit polls put the Kerry-Edwards ticket in the lead, election results from Midwestern and Southern states — the red states — would tell another tale. As polls closed all eyes rested on Ohio — a swing state with a high unemployment, a union member in one third of its households, a Republican secretary of state who blocked the voting rights of 35,000 people, and 20 of the electoral votes that ultimately decided who would lead the divided nation.

The 20 votes went to Bush and “Ohio became the new Florida,” said DC 37 Political Action Director Wanda Williams. “Again we had an election where a Republican advocate in a position that should be nonpartisan succeeded in disenfranchising Democrats.”

Blindsided and stunned, Democrats hoped for a recount, but with a shortfall of electoral votes, Kerry conceded.

Nationally, Republicans gained eight seats in Congress and many observers expect a “tyranny of the majority.” Still, the lessons learned in 2004, though hard, are good ones. Never had so many Americans voted against an incumbent president.

“The Republican focus on moral values hypocritically excluded the immorality of war and shamefully ignored working families, seniors and the poor,” Ms. Roberts said. “Labor will always put the economy, health care, education and unjustified war high on our list of concerns.”

New York’s traditional liberal voters were joined by large numbers of first-timers — young people and immigrants — “who wanted to make a difference,” Ms. Roberts said. “We’ve awakened the electorate. More people are part of the process. Labor has helped build a movement and turn the tide of political apathy.”