PEF CANDIDATES WIN BIG IN'98

Union backed winner Democrat Senator Chuck Shumer
with PEF President Roger E. Benson on election night.

BELOW (L TO R) - Region 11 coordinator Patricia Baker, Vice President
Joe Fox, Region 10 coordinator Jennifer Faucher, Democrat Carl McCall re-elected as state comptroller with PEF legislative director Bob Bain.

ELECTION RESULTS-PEF MEMBERS GET OUT THE VOTE.
PHONE POWER-PEF members pour on the persuasion in Long Island and Buffalo to bring voters to the polls on Election day.

LEFT-Region 12 member Lillian Dabney and Lola Young call registered voters from the regional office As Young's granddaughter looks on. -Photo by Jonathan Gittens

LOWER RIGHT-Members of the Western New York PEF Black Caucus get out the vote for Schumer and McCall.
Left to right: Grady Davis, Dante Davis, Tina Sims, Philip Robinson and Bren George.

PEF up to challenge of Campaign '98

By SHERRY HALBROOK
Some of the races were nail-biters, but on November 3 PEF's candidates won big with the union's help and PEF members won with them. Armed with a knowledge of candidates' positions on PEF issues, PEF endorsed 230 candidates in the general election. Of the 230 candidates, PEF identified 22 marginal races in both the state Assembly and Senate.

"In order to gain the greatest political currency for the upcoming legislative session, PEF asked the leadership in the Senate and Assembly to identify the races most important to them," said PEF Staff Director Steve Chamberlain."We focused on the races where there was a match with our endorsements, and where our involvement could make the biggest difference," Chamberlain continued.

"Of the 22 marginal races, PEF was able to get 20 of our endorsed candidates elected. And of the 205 remaining candidates we endorsed, 202 won their races. Those are sweet victories," Chamberlain said.

And nowhere was the victory sweeter than in the races for U.S. Senate and state comptroller.
For Senate, PEF came out early and very strong for challenger Chuck Schumer. The Brooklyn Democrat with 18 years of service in Congress earned the union's support by his long record of consistent support for the issues nearest and dearest to the hearts of PEF members and by besting his two Democratic rivals for the nomination in the televised debate sponsored and hosted by PEF in August.

Although he had an uphill battle in challenging 18-year Senate Republican Alfonse D'Amato, Schumer won a decisive victory following one of the most intense Senate campaigns in the nation."I'm proud that PEF was one of the first unions to endorse Chuck Schumer and of the role that we and organized labor played in getting him elected," said PEF President Roger Benson.

"Our activists and staff made tens of thousands of calls to our members to get out the vote, because we recognized that Chuck Schumer had what it would take to get elected," said Benson, who added that he is sure Schumer will work as tirelessly for PEF members and other working people as they worked for him."Chuck Schumer mentions

PEF's support just about everywhere he goes," said PEF Vice President Ken Brynien, who chairs the union's Political Action Committee. "Our Democratic primary debate really gave his campaign its initial momentum."

"We wanted a US senator who would go to Washington and speak for us," said PEF Region 11 Coordinator Pat Baker. "Our members and other voters recognized that it was time for a change."

McCall PEF's first choice

It took activists in virtually every PEF region to make all those phone calls to get out the vote. But Schumer wasn't the only candidate they asked members to support. The callers also urged support for the re-election of Democrat H. Carl McCall to the post of state comptroller.

And, again, members throughout the state responded enthusiastically to McCall who earned their support by his unflagging and innovative efforts to protect the state pension fund, boost pensions and remove disparities among the pension tiers.

"Carl McCall was the first candidate we endorsed, way back in March. Rarely has any state leader earned the level of respect and appreciation that he enjoys among PEF members," Benson said. "It was no surprise to us that he won such a resounding victory at the polls."

While PEF volunteers filled the regional offices, phoning and sending out letters on behalf of Schumer and McCall in the weeks before the election, another group of the union's activists linked with the local campaigns of PEF-endorsed candidates for Congress and the state Legislature.

Concerned PEF members were joined by members of the PEF Black Caucus, PEF Retirees and even family members, friends and neighbors in calling, knocking on doors, handing out and mailing literature to inform and motivate voters in hundreds of important races throughout the state.

"I was really impressed by the experience and political skills of PEF members," said Robert Bain, the union's new Political Director, who came on board this fall just as the campaigns were coming to a full boil.

Rolling up votes in Mid-Hudson

"We had targeted several difficult races in Region 9 and Coordinator Neila Cardus and regional PAC Chair Ron Greene did a fantastic job of organizing the phone banking," Bain said. "They also had the help of PEF retirees."

One of their most important victories was the election of Democrat Kevin Cahill to the state Assembly in the heavily Republican 101st District. Cahill, a former PEF member, had held the seat once before, lost it two years ago and regained it this year by a margin of less than 3,000 votes.

The Region 9 effort also helped spark the wins of Democrat Naomi Matusow to the Assembly and Republican Nick Spano to the state Senate.

Unfortunately, Region 9 also saw the losses of PEF Executive Board Member Richard Collins in his bid for Congress and Judy Green for the Assembly. Both were democratic challengers running in largely Republican districts.

City votes key

Many important races were decided in New York City, where the local battles have traditionally been fought and won on primary day.

This year, the November turnout was crucial for a number of local and statewide races. Schumer's congressional constituents and other city residents turned out big for him this year thanks to the vigorous efforts of veteran campaigners such as PEF Region 10's Faucher and PAC Chair Bob Thomas, backed up by a small army of PEF PAC members and PEF Retirees. They also pulled hard for McCall, a former president of the New York City Board of Education and state senator from Manhattan.

While there were no targeted congressional or legislative races in Manhattan or the Bronx, the Region 10 activists pitched in to help other targeted candidates in the city. "On election day, we worked with the Central Labor Council at sites around the city," Faucher said
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Out in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island PEF members made the difference in five targeted races, as well as Schumer's campaign. The successful effort was led by Regional Coordinator Pat Baker and energetic PAC chairs Alan Schulkin and Nithia Chatterjie, and dozens of hardworking activists and retirees.

For example, Chatterjie came to the aid of PEF's longtime friend Assemblymember Eric Vitaliano, a Democrat from Staten Island. "We had lots of people working on this," Chatterjie said, "including Bernie Kahn, Ann Marie Delinikolaou, Irma Machado, Barry Markman and John Paul Culotta. This was a very concerted and successful effort. We scored a big win here."

Schulkin divided his time among the re-election campaigns for Assembly Democrats William Colton and Peter Abbate Jr.

Meanwhile, PEF members Leonard Mangano and David Berke led the union's efforts for the re-election of Democrat Ann Margaret Carrozza for the Assembly. In the end, all of these difficult city races were won by substantial margins.

No quiet on the western front

While the battles raged in New York City, PEF members in Buffalo had their hands full with four targeted races.
Bill Parolari, PEF's Region 1 coordinator and PAC chair, was in the thick of it - organizing phone banks for Schumer and McCall out of PEF headquarters and directing volunteers to the close local campaigns.

Among the many activists were such veteran stalwarts as Tom Grace, Howard Henry and Joyce Degenhardt. And there were dedicated newcomers, too, including Lynda Coleman, Bridget Pawelczak and Satya Sharma.

"We started two weeks before the election and called our members who are Democrats and independents first, then we targeted Republicans," Parolari said. The union also sent letters to its members, urging them to vote and support the candidates their union had endorsed.

But the real trench fighting was in the targeted Assembly races where four of the endorsed Democrats - Francine DelMonte, Susan Peimer, Brian Higgins and Richard Smith - were all facing tough uphill battles. Of the four, only Smith was an incumbent.

When the votes were counted, two of the targeted races were won and two - Peimer and DelMonte - were lost.
"Those losses were a real shame," Parolari said. "They had to raise their own campaign funds and just a few thousand dollars more might have done it.

"But we made a big difference in the Higgins election," Parolari said. "We got a lot of positive feedback."
And the Western New York PEF Black Caucus was also a real force for the Democrats this year.

"We joined forces with other community-based organizations to campaign for PEF-endorsed candidates, especially McCall and Schumer," said PEF member Bren George, president of the western caucus.

"We went door-to-door, worked the phone banks, posted campaign signs and handed out palm cards," George said. "When you endorse a candidate you have to be willing to work really hard to get them elected. I really want to thank all of our members who participated in this outstanding effort."

Running start for L.I. races

Long Island is a hotbed of New York politics and 1998 was no exception. "We started early in the year, getting to know the candidates, reviewing their records and talking to the PEF political action liaisons (PALs) and PEF members," said PEF Region 12 Coordinator Ruth Gaines.

Once the endorsements were made, the region's core of highly skilled activists knew what to do and were eager to get to it.

"We started the phone banks early and worked with our retirees," Gaines said. "We knew we needed an army, really."
With six targeted state races - three Assembly Democrats and two Senate Republicans - and one tight congressional race, Gaines was right.

But she and regional PAC Chair Jonathan Gittens had an army - small, to be sure, but "primo" all the same.

Region 12 PAL Chair Rosemary Claus called on the region's PALs to mobilize members in their districts. And the region's Political Education Chair Sarah Billups directed her well known energies to the task helping to prepare a special "Get Out The Vote" edition of Long Island Chatter, the region's newsletter to members.

"Even while we were at the PEF convention in October, we had phone banks going on here," Gaines said.
"Approximately 20 PEF retirees, as well as other groups such as retired firefighters and black social workers, worked on our phone banks for Schumer and McCall," said Gaines, who was recently named to the Executive Council of the Long Island AFL-CIO. "We built a pretty good coalition."

Gaines was key organizing coordinator for the re-election of Democrat Carolyn McCarthy to a second term in Congress - a feat that turned out to be every bit as challenging as her first run. McCarthy's PEF PAL, Kiwit Trevedi, got his entire family involved in her re-election campaign.

Long Island poses its own special challenges and one of them is daily bumper-to-bumper traffic on the main highways. So, how do you put up campaign signs where motorists will see them? "We went out at midnight when the traffic was lighter to put up our signs," Gaines said. "And we hit the train stations early in the mornings to hand out literature to commuters on their way into New York City."

PEF earned its victories

All over the state, the story is essentially the same. PEF members thought carefully about the candidates and the issues. They helped choose who the union would back and then they rolled up their sleeves and went to work. "We exercised our power," PEF's Region 11 coordinator Patricia Baker said.

"Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, what we did was very significant. We know we're not going to get anything, unless we work for it."