ATU Action Weekly Update - 11/12/07

ATU, Unions Win Big in 2007 Elections

• Kentucky
• Virginia
• New Jersey

ATU, Unions Win Big in 2007 Elections

Working families made huge gains on November 6, 2007, as voters across the country delivered wins for union endorsed candidates in state and local races.  These great successes were due in no small part to the hard work of union members, including ATU members who pounded the pavement and turned out the union vote. 

In Kentucky, Democratic gubernatorial challenger Steve Beshear blew out sitting Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher by 18 points.  Seventy-seven percent of union voters supported Beshear,  With union members and their families making up a quarter of all voters in the state, there is no doubt that Beshear would not have won without the work of organized labor.

In Virginia, a worker-friendly majority was elected to the State Senate.  With the help of ATU and other union volunteers, Democrats took 4 seats to gain control of the State Senate for the first time since 1999.  Democrats also increased their number of seats in the State House by 4.  ATU members in Norfolk (Local 1177) and Northern Virginia (Local 689) helped make the necessary phone calls and knock on the doors of union members to ensure that our members voted.

In New Jersey, union-member candidates claimed victory in an astounding 33 races - including mayoral, city council and assembly races.  Democrats extended their leads in the Senate 23-17 and maintained a 49-31 majority in the Assembly.  ATU members throughout the state were critical in delivering these victories. 

Similarly, in Ohio, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, numerous union-endorsed candidates won state and local races with the help of the ATU and other AFL-CIO affiliates.