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UFT key to primary success, candidates attest
Oct 1, 2009 2:04 PM
City Councilman John Liu (blue shirt), candidate for city comptroller, joins the 600-strong UFT contingent as it marches up Fifth Avenue in this year’s Labor Day parade.
Key UFT-endorsed candidates surprised the political pundits by finishing first in the crowded field in both of their Democratic Party Primary elections on Sept. 15, and it was UFT members who put those candidates over the top.
Both city comptroller candidate John Liu and public advocate hopeful Bill de Blasio led the pack in their respective races, defying the polls and surprising observers by their breadth of support.
As the New York Teacher went to press, the two faced opponents in a second-round Democratic Party runoff on Sept. 29.
In another key win, Cyrus Vance Jr., a one-time prosecutor and longtime defense attorney, handily won nomination for Manhattan district attorney. In his victory speech, Vance named the UFT first among unions critical to his victory.
The three citywide candidates considered the UFT’s prominent role in their races vital, given that just 11 percent of registered Democrats took part in the primary.
De Blasio was a distant second in the race for public advocate when the UFT endorsed him on Sept. 3, while Liu was in a three-way tie in the comptroller’s race when the UFT gave him its nod on Sept. 1.
“By entering those races when we did, those two candidates got the boost they needed,” said Paul Egan, the UFT director of legislation and political action.
Liu and public advocate hopeful Bill de Blasio (right) celebrate with UFT President Michael Mulgrew at the Sept. 16 special Delegate Assembly at UFT headquarters.
Calling Primary Day “a very good day for us here at the UFT,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew attributed the Sept. 15 successes to “changing some of the way we do political work, by analyzing everything in all the political races and targeting key contests so the union could play a crucial role.”
Mulgrew said the election came down to which organizations could get out the vote. In low-turnout races, the ability to get supporters to the polls is what makes the difference.
In addition to phone banking at every borough office in the weeks leading up to Sept. 15, the UFT went into neighborhoods to knock on doors and distributed leaflets at transportation hubs on Election Day.
“Because of the work we did, we made a big difference,” Mulgrew said.
Both Liu and de Blasio, who came to the Sept. 16 Delegate Assembly to thank the union, agreed.
Addressing the delegates, de Blasio said that “what I saw yesterday showed the extraordinary reach of this organization. It’s not just that you have a huge membership and an organized membership and an active ability to reach people; it’s because people listen to the UFT. They listen because of the work you do, because they respect what you do for our children every day. ”
Liu also said that the UFT’s support for his candidacy was pivotal, and that wherever he campaigned he saw UFT members working for him.
“When a teacher says something, it means a lot to the person on the street,” Liu said.
One of the union’s own will soon be in office, too, as Daniel Dromm, a 15-year teacher and former chapter leader at PS 199 in Queens, defeated incumbent Councilwoman Helen Sears from Jackson Heights.
Dromm, who also visited the Delegate Assembly, said that he ran on a platform of reducing class sizes and other needed educational reforms. He pledged that he would never give up the fight to preserve tenure, because as an openly gay school teacher taking controversial educational stands, he knew “that without tenure I would not be here today.”
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who backed the UFT on issues from school budgeting and small class sizes to full funding for Teacher’s Choice and Provider’s Choice, fended off a challenge in her Greenwich Village district with help from UFT activists.
Union volunteers were also key in defeating Maria Baez, the incumbent in the Bronx’s District 14, who had the worst attendance record of any council member. The UFT-backed candidate, Fernando Cabrera, won by just 69 votes.
PS 33, Manhattan, paraprofessional Sandra Arce (left) and Chapter Leader Erin Lubick distribute fliers supporting UFT-endorsed candidates outside their school.
The union’s efforts were apparent in City Councilwoman Diana Reyna’s narrow victory over Maritza Davila in Brooklyn’s District 34. Reyna received 46 percent of the vote, while Davila took 43 percent.
Union volunteers also helped secure incumbent Melissa Mark-Viverito’s re-election to her East Harlem council district and Oliver Koppell’s re-election in northwest Bronx, and they helped elect Ydanis Rodriguez in northern Manhattan, Steve Levin in downtown Brooklyn and Brad Lander in Park Slope.
The UFT also backed Mark Weprin and Karen Koslowitz, who won in their Council races in Queens.
It wasn’t a clean sweep for the union. Two UFT-endorsed incumbents — Alan Gerson in Manhattan and Ken Mitchell on Staten Island — lost their bids for another term on the City Council.
