I'm an Oklahoma Republican. But this year I'm voting Democratic. Here's why.
I just did something I never thought I'd do. Just a few minutes ago, at the AFSCME Convention in Chicago, I told nearly 6,000 people the story of how a few hundred city workers in one of the most conservative cities in one of the reddest states in the country banded together to exercise our freedom to unionize.
My name is Alan Peterson and I work in the utilities department for the City of Enid, Oklahoma. But the experience that I shared with my fellow public service employees cuts across political lines and has generated the kind of activism that I think the netroots might appreciate. In fact, I think we might have made you proud.
In 2004, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, a Democrat, signed a law allowing city employees in Enid and other cities the freedom to choose for ourselves whether we wanted to unionize. Our city leaders fought tooth and nail against it, and even succeeded in having the Oklahoma Supreme Court rule the law unconstitutional. But we urged the court to reconsider. And in a rare reversal, the Court reinstated our law.
But what I'm most proud of is the work we did while the Supreme Court deliberated. Last year, during our local elections, we knocked on our neighbors' doors, called them on the telephone and leafleted Enid street corners. The result? We beat all three anti-union, anti-freedom city commissioners by almost two-to-one and replaced them with commissioners who supported our freedom to unionize.
My point is that we're an example of people-powered politics in action. Even in one of the reddest of red cities in America, we elected commissioners with a progressive view on the freedom to unionize. If it can happen in Enid, it can happen anywhere.
And even though I'm a registered Republican, I look forward to helping re-elect Democratic Governor Brad Henry.