Schenectady Labor Council Issues Candidate Endorsements

Labor Unions representing workers across the Western Capital District announce first round of endorsements for local elections

ALBANY, NY (09/20/2013)(readMedia)-- The Schenectady Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO (SALC, AFL-CIO) issued their first round of endorsements at their monthly Delegates meeting this week, which is the culmination of a process that spanned several months and included extensive written questionnaires as well as dozens of interviews with candidates for local public offices.

This first round of endorsements focused on a number of candidates in Schenectady County, the City of Schenectady, Montgomery County and the City of Amsterdam, who were explicitly seeking support for their General Election campaigns, as well as other key races across Schenectady and Montgomery Counties.

SALC President Frank Natalie noted, "This election cycle, we received more requests from candidates interested in our endorsement than in recent memory. This attests to the great collaboration and solidarity we share among our affiliates consisting of the public, private, and building trades unions. We are truly one in our fight to improve the lives of all our members and all working people throughout our region."

He went on to add, "I want to thank all of the candidates that interviewed, as well as the dedicated Delegates who volunteered many hours of their time to thoughtfully and thoroughly screen them. We're looking forward to hitting the streets for our endorsed working class champions."

The SALC intends to execute a vigorous field program and mobilize dozens of members to hit the streets in support of endorsed candidates, including door-to-door as well as phone canvassing and will participate in targeted "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) efforts.

Endorsements were issued for the following candidates:

Schenectady County

  • Karen Johnson, County Legislature (District 1)
  • Martin Finn, County Legislature (District 3)
  • Rory Fluman, County Legislature (District 3)
  • Cathy Gatta, County Legislature (District 3)
  • Matthew Martin, County Legislature (District 4)
  • Kevin Burke, Family Court Judge

City of Schenectady (Citywide)

  • John Mootooveren, City Council
  • Marion Porterfield, City Council

Town of Glenville

  • Cathryn Bern-Smith, Supervisor
  • Ron Draves, Town Council

Town of Rotterdam

  • Diane Marco, Town Clerk

Montgomery County

  • Matt Ossenfort, County Executive

Montgomery County Legislature

  • Roy Dimond, County Legislature (District 3)
  • John Duchessi, County Legislature (District 6)
  • Jeff Stark, County Legislature (District 7)

City of Amsterdam

  • Ed Russo, Alderman (Ward 1)
  • Matt Agresta, City Controller

Town of Palatine

  • Sara Niccoli, Supervisor

The SALC is comprised of over four-dozen affiliated unions, representing over 30,000 union members and their working families across Schenectady, Schoharie, Fulton and Montgomery Counties. For more information about SALC and the local labor movement, be sure to visit www.cdalf.org.