PEF activists fully involved in political endorsements, campaigns

By SHERRY HALBROOK
While summer is synonymous with vacations and good times, anyone involved with politics knows it’s prime time for candidates campaigning for September primaries and the November elections.

That’s why PEF’s political activists throughout the state spent countless hours in June and July contacting candidates to schedule pre-endorsement-screening meetings, reviewing their voting records and public statements, sending them questionnaires on important issues, and meeting and talking with candidates directly.

“As public employees, we are constantly affected both at work and at home by the political decisions made by our elected leaders in Albany and Washington,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. “Our time and efforts are well invested in getting to know the political players and making sure they know us and our issues.”

On August 2, PEF’s statewide Political Action Committee (PAC) met in Albany to review the recommendations of the union’s 12 regional PACs on endorsements in more than 240 races — mostly for NYS Assembly, NYS Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

After reviewing and discussing each recommendation, the statewide PAC voted on its own endorsement recommendation for each of those offices, as well as the U.S. Senate seat now held by Hillary Clinton.

“Those recommendations will be considered by the PEF Executive Board at its August 17-18 meeting (after this issue of The Communicator went to press) in Albany, where the final endorsement decisions will be made,” said PEF Vice President Joe Fox, who chairs the statewide PAC.

Watch for a list of those endorsements in the October issue of The Communicator.

Even while the main endorsement process was moving forward, however, PEF was already at work helping those candidates who had received “early” endorsements by the Executive Board at its March and May meetings.

For example, Bill Sachs — a member of the PEF Executive Board and a political activist in New York city — turned out in June to help state attorney general candidate Mark Green get signatures on his nominating petitions to secure a place on the ballot for the September 12 Democratic primary.

PEF will contact its members on behalf of its endorsed candidates in all three statewide races involving Democratic primaries — U.S. Senate, governor and attorney general — as well as some of the other endorsed candidates facing party primaries.

PEF regions are looking for volunteers to work on these candidate phone banks in early September. To volunteer or find out more about how you can become a PEF political activist, call your PEF regional coordinator or PAC chair at your PEF field office.