WE DID IT! — PEF Division 301 leaders Maureen and Bob Hogle join state Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffman in celebrating her primary win after helping her campaign.
— Photo by Matt Watson
PEF helps boost candidates to victory in primary races
By SHERRY HALBROOK
According to preliminary reports, most of the political candidates that PEF endorsed who faced primary elections in September, won them.
Among the most important primary victories was that of John “Randy” Kuhl, who won the right to run on the Republican line in the November 2 election for U.S. House of Representatives in the 29th District. PEF Region 2 activists volunteered to help Kuhl who, as a member of the state Senate, aided PEF in defending services at Elmira Psychiatric Center.
PEF also helped Brian Higgins win the Democratic primary in the 27th Congressional District in western New York.
PEF Region 4 activists pitched in to help push state Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffman to victory in the Republican primary for the 49th Senate District in the Syracuse area. Hoffman has helped PEF defend services at Hutchings Psychiatric Center and other state services threatened with budget cuts.
Caesar Trunzo had the help of PEF Region 12 activists in winning the Republican primary for state Senate District 3 in Suffolk County. Over his many years in the state Senate Trunzo has supported PEF’s efforts on numerous legislative issues.
And Region 8 members and retirees supported former PEF member Bob Reilly in his primary bid for the Independence Party line. Reilly, who promises to return his legislative paycheck to state coffers if elected, won that race in the 109th Assembly District and will also appear on the Democratic and Working Family Party lines on the November 2 ballot.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL —
PEF Reg. 4 Coord. Don Kehoskie, E. Board Member Pat Smith and Mike Otaviano phone voters for state Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffman. — Photo by Bob Hogle
The union also got behind Democrats Adele Cohen and John Lavelle in their successful primary battles for re-election to the state Legislature.
Notable in the loss column after the September 14 primary, however, were Stephen Kaufman, David Sidikman and Barry Grodenchik.
Kaufman, who has been serving as a Democrat in the state Assembly, lost primary battles to run on both the Democratic and Republican lines for the state Senate in the 34th District, which includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester County.
Sidikman, currently the assistant majority whip in the state Assembly, was defeated in a primary for the Democratic line in the 13th District.
And Grodenchik, the Democratic incumbent in the 22nd Assembly District, was knocked off that party’s line. He will still appear on the Working Families line on the November ballot.
The PEF Political Action Committee is scheduled to meet after the results of the primary elections are certified in late September to consider any post-primary endorsements. Visit the PEF Web site at
www.pef.org and click on Political Action for any late endorsements.
VOTE FOR REILLY — Volunteers phone voters from PEF in Albany.
— Photo by Sherry Halbrook
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