Skip to main content

Working Families Win Big in Tuesday’s Elections

Courtesy AFSCME New Jersey
Working Families Win Big in Tuesday’s Elections
By AFSCME Staff ·

Working families won big in Tuesday’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere. They won by making their voices heard at the ballot box and by working through their unions to help elect pro-worker candidates.

AFSCME members played key roles in several of last night’s wins. In New Jersey, AFSCME members were at the forefront of Phil Murphy’s campaign for governor. Murphy went on to handily defeat Kim Guadagno, Gov. Chris Christie’s lieutenant governor. Murphy’s victory marked the end of the Christie regime, known for its constant attacks against working families and retirees.

In Virginia, working families supported Ralph Northam, who decisively defeated Ed Gillespie. They also supported pro-worker candidates Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring for lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively. Both of them went on to win. 

Also in Virginia, AFSCME member Elizabeth Guzman won a long-standing Republican seat by a wide margin. Guzman is a member of AFSCME Virginia Local 3001 and made history as one of the first two Latinas to be elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. She joins at least 15 other pro-worker state candidates who won Tuesday.

Other victories:

  • In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio cruised to a second term and AFSCME members worked hard to defeat Proposition 1, a ballot measure that asked voters whether to hold a convention to revise the state constitution.
  • In Washington state, candidate Manka Dhingra beat an anti-worker incumbent in a state Senate race, giving Democrats full control of the government and paving the way for pro-worker policies.
  • In Maine, working families worked to make sure voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to expand Medicaid despite Gov. Paul LePage’s opposition.
  • In Maryland, AFSCME members helped Annapolis mayoral candidate Gavin Buckley beat incumbent Mike Patelides, who privatized city union jobs in just his first year in office.

The list goes on and on. Working families and AFSCME members like you also helped ensure pro-worker victories in Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Tuesday’s election victories are a reminder of the power that working people have, especially when they join together in strong unions. We’ve said that strong unions make for stronger communities, and we’ve pointed the way forward in the AFSCME Agenda.

At a time when working people and their unions are under attack, Tuesday’s elections give a clear mandate to the victors – to stand up for working families and their freedoms, including the freedom to join in strong unions. 

Related Posts