PEF’S WITH YOU — PEF President Roger Benson greets state Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer at the June E. Board meeting. Photo by Bill Sachs), and announces Mark Green’s endorsement (below), Photo by Deborah A. Miles) at an Albany press conference.

Green and four others get union’s early support
PEF endorses Spitzer for gov.

By SHERRY HALBROOK
PEF has endorsed Eliot Spitzer to be the next governor of New York state.

Spitzer, the state attorney general and Democratic candidate for governor, was endorsed, along with five other political candidates for a wide range of offices, by the PEF Executive Board at its June meeting in Albany. All of the endorsements were recommended by PEF’s Political Action Committee (PAC).

Mark Green was the only other candidate for statewide office endorsed at the meeting. Green, a Democrat, is running for state attorney general. PEF previously endorsed the re-election bid of state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Mutual concerns
“During the past eight years, Eliot Spitzer has been attorney general and proved to be a true partner with PEF,” said PEF President Roger Benson in announcing the nomination. “Spitzer has a long history of supporting PEF on issues such as our Go Public Campaign for legislation to require greater transparency and accountability in the way New York does business. He is committed to public employees and understands the value and quality of services our members provide to the state’s taxpayers.”


“I thank PEF for its endorsement and faith in my pledge to bring fairness and accountability back to government and my dedication to confronting our problems head-on,” Spitzer said.

“The services we provide, what we do in government, is essential to our success as a society. We need to revisit the notion that what we do matters,” Spitzer said.

Both Spitzer and his Republican opponent, former state Assembly Minority Leader John Faso, addressed the board before it voted on the endorsement.
The PAC recommended endorsing Green in what could be a four-way Democratic primary race for attorney general.

Green, a former New York City public advocate, drew strong support from several downstate board members during the debate which preceded the vote.

Mutual support
The board also gave early endorsements to two candidates for Congress, two for the state Assembly and one running for a county office.

Carl Andrews, a Democrat and currently the minority whip in the state Senate, was endorsed in his bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 11th Congressional District (CD) in Brooklyn.

“Carl has an excellent voting record as a state senator, and he is a former PEF member,” PEF Region 11 Coordinator Jemma Marie- Hanson told the board.
Democrat Brian Higgins also garnered PEF’s endorsement in his re-election bid to represent the 27th CD in the Buffalo area.

PEF Region 1 Coordinator Joyce Degenhardt told the board Higgins holds a key congressional committee position and has been helpful on federal funding for PEF members’ jobs and services at the state Labor and Transportation Departments.

The board also backed two Democrats in their bids to win re-election to the state Assembly — Susan John in the 131st AD (Rochester) and Francine Delmonte in the 138th AD (Niagara Falls).

“PEF has no better friend in the (state) Legislature, than Susan John,” Benson said. On every major legislative issue, “she was always there for us.”

Board members also voted to endorse Vernon (Sam) Burns, a PEF member and vocational instructor at Governeur Correctional Facility, in his race for a seat on the St. Lawrence County Legislature.

The board is expected to deal with many more endorsement recommendations in mid-August. Meanwhile, the PEF statewide and regional PACs will continue to meet with candidates and review their voting records prior to making their recommendations.

The Communicator July/Aug. '06

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