Worker Power Update

Kentucky’s Pro-Labor Governor Beshear Re-Elected

Supported by CWA members, Kentucky’s pro-labor governor, Andy Beshear, won a resounding victory in his bid for re-election on Tuesday. CWA activists from Districts across the country hosted phone banks in support of Governor Beshear and Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman, reaching out to union households. IUE-CWA and CWA ran a joint member engagement program and participated in the Kentucky AFL-CIO labor program for this effort.

Bolstered by strong union support, Governor Beshear grew his margin of victory from 5,000 votes in the 2019 election to nearly 70,000 votes in 2023.

CWAers join AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler to get out the vote for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

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CWAers Win Campaigns from New Jersey to Virginia

Supported by their union brothers, sisters, and siblings, CWAers are running for office, and winning.

Penny Franklin, President of IUE-CWA Local 82160, was re-elected to the Montgomery County School Board in Virginia this week.

In New Jersey, Joseph Hiles of CWA Local 1085 was elected Mayor of Woodstown. Jessica O’Connor, CWA Local 1033, was elected to the Palmyra Council, and Michele Liebtag, CWA Local 1085, was elected to the Frenchtown Council. Other CWAers are serving the students in their communities; Adam Bierman, CWA Local 1033, was elected to the Princeton Board of Education and John Kendall, IUE-CWA Local 81103, was elected to the Haddon Township Board of Education.

In Ohio, CWA Local 4340 member Bill Dunham was re-elected to the Newburgh Heights City council and in New York, Chris Ryan, CWA Local 1123, was elected as Onondaga County Legislator.

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Voters Flip Virginia Legislature in Rebuke to Anti-Union Governor

In a powerful rebuke of Governor Youngkin and his anti-union policies, voters across Virginia flipped the state legislature to unified Democratic control. CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. appeared in a series of radio ads to turn out the vote for pro-labor legislative candidates and CWAers made phone calls, sent text messages, and knocked on doors in partnership with the Virginia AFL-CIO labor program. Union voters helped hold the Democratic majority in the state senate and flip the House of Delegates.

The new Democratic majority in the House of Delegates includes union members Destiny Bolling and Jeion Ward. Delegate Jeion Ward serves as President of the Hampton Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 4260, and is a member of the Executive Council of the Virginia AFL-CIO. Newly-elected Delegate Destiny Bolling serves the Commonwealth’s 330,000 union members through her role as Communications Director of the Virginia AFL-CIO.

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Pro-Worker Candidates Win in Texas, Mississippi, Indiana, New York, and New Jersey

In addition to CWA members who won big this week (see story above), CWA-endorsed candidates succeeded in races across the country.

In a high-profile race for mayor of Houston, America's fourth largest city, labor champion Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee advanced to a run-off election that will be held on December 9. At her election night gathering, Jackson Lee thanked CWA members and President Claude Cummings Jr. for supporting her based on her record of accomplishments on behalf of working people.

In Mississippi, CWA members launched a comprehensive campaign to educate and turn out the vote. As a result, pro-worker candidates won state house and senate seats in 10 out of 12 races where CWA made an endorsement.

In Indianapolis, Ind., CWA-endorsed Mayor Joe Hogsett retained his seat, becoming the first three-term mayor in the city in 40 years. This was predicted to be a close race, but voter turnout efforts, including by CWA members who participated in the Labor to Labor program and also ran text banks, resulted in a big win.

In New Jersey, where CWA members did over 1,000 shifts of canvassing and phone banking, all of CWA's endorsed candidates won. Pro-worker Democrats won back two Assembly seats they had lost in 2021 and increased their majority in the New Jersey State Legislature.

In New York, CWA-endorsed candidates prevailed in New York City Council races and in County Executive contests in Erie and Monroe Counties. CWA members are already gearing up for 2024, and helped launch an ambitious project, called Battleground New York, to increase the number of pro-worker Democrats in Congress.

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We will have additional information about other key races from across the country in next week’s newsletter!