John Hall, Democratic candidate to replace Republican Bush-enabler Sue Kelly, has racked up some important union endorsements of late. On his website, John proudly mentions that he's a 35 year member of Local 802, A.F. of M and AFTRA. More on the labor union endorsements below. In addition to being a union member, John has a long history of activism on behalf of the environment and alternative energy development and has served as both an Ulster County Legislator and a Town of Saugerties School Board President.
New York's 19th Congressional District
The 19th c.d. encompasses all of Putnam, northern Westchester, northern Rockland, southern Dutchess, and most of Orange Counties. The Republican, Conservative and Right to life registered voters total roughly 168,500 while the registered Democratic, Liberal, Green and Working Families Party voters total approx. 145,000. While it appears that the district leans to the right, there are also 109,000 registered voters in NY-19 that are unaffiliated, meaning they belong to neither party.
275,000 member SEIU Local 1199 endorses John Hall
The largest and most influential labor union endorsement just came this week as the widely popular President of SEIU Local 1199, Dennis Rivera, announced his local's support for the John Hall campaign. Local 1199 is the "largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the country."
"The healthcare workers of 1199 SEIU are proud to endorse John Hall for Congress. His fresh voice and innovative ideas are exactly what 1199 SEIU members and New York's working families need in the House of Representatives," stated Dennis Rivera, President of 1199 SEIU. "John has been a life long activist and his commitment to quality healthcare, affordable housing and education is exactly what 1199 SEIU members look for in an elected official," added Rivera.
In addition to the backing of SEIU Local 1199, Hall has received the endorsement of the active and influential 31,000 member IBEW Local 3 (one of the largest IBEW locals in the country), UFCW Local 1500 which represents 19,000 members in the NYC area, IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) Local 1, and John's own labor union the American Federation of Musicians - both the International and Local 802 have endorsed him.
Labor union support is critical and with a very late primary election (Sept. 12) it will be very helpful in terms of gaining name recognition and GOTV. This is a crowded primary field with six candidates vying for the Democratic nod. John Hall has won the County Democratic party endorsements of three of the five counties (all on the first ballot) which make up this district and a recent internal poll by the Hall campaign showed John leading the field with 26%, his next two closest rivals with 7% each and 54% undecided/had no opinion. It's important to note that this poll was taken before John's landslide wins in three of the five county nominating conventions.
John Hall can use your help
His successes in terms of county party support, labor union endorsements, internal polling and most recently big fundraising events have pushed him into at least a share of frontrunner status for the primary in this Congressional District. Anyone living in the area is welcome to volunteer and help on the ground. Also needed are good old fashioned campaign contributions. With the June 30th reporting deadline coming up tomorrow, your contributions are especially needed.