On the list of highlights of Tuesday's election, eight NYSUT members were elected to office, and three additional members are in races that are still too close to call.
Ballot Measures
While ballots will continue to be counted over the coming weeks, it appears that the NYSUT supported ballot proposals (1, 3 and 4) will fail. These measures spoke to changes in the redistricting process and an expansion of voting rights. Proposals 2 (Right to Clean Air and Water) and 5 (Increasing Jurisdiction of New York City Civil Court) appear to have been successful.
Western New York
In Western New York, two NYSUT members and pipeline candidates, Jill O’Malley and Megan Comerford ran for Tonawanda and Hamburg Town Councils respectively. After election night, Comerford is leading by a comfortable margin, and we are hopeful that her margin will hold. In Tonawanda, O’Malley is holding strongly in the second rank for one of the seats up for grabs in the Tonawanda Town Council.
Other NYSUT supported races in the region – including the re-election of NYSUT members Jacqui Berger to the Amherst Town Council and Anita Mullane for Niagara County Legislature – appear too close to call. They are currently trailing in their elections. NYSUT member Lisa Chimera was re-elected to the Erie County Legislature. UUP member, Nick Weiser, is currently trailing in his election for the Dunkirk City Council at-large.
While NYSUT locals took varying positions on the Buffalo Mayoral race, it appears that incumbent Mayor, Byron Brown, who was defeated in the primary election by India Walton, may have been successful in his write-in campaign. It will be several weeks before all the ballots are counted, but as of last evening, the Brown campaign was feeling confident in their chances.
Rochester
The Monroe Community College Faculty Association partnered with locals across the county to make a full-scale investment in the Monroe County Legislative races. Their efforts included issuing endorsements in 23 county legislative races, running phonebanks for each district, and sending nearly 16,000 text messages to NYSUT members encouraging them to support their endorsed candidates.
As of election night, 11 of the priority candidates appear to have won their elections to the County Legislature. Two races are too close to call and will be decided by absentee ballots. NYSUT member, John Baynes, fended off a challenge from self-funded opponents who openly ran against the values of teacher unions. The Monroe County Legislature has been dominated by Republican legislators for over 30 years. If the absentee ballots go in favor of two NYSUT supported candidates, the balance of power will flip.
The Rochester Teachers Association supported Republicans Elena Cariola and Jim Walsh for State Supreme Court seats. Both appear to have won handily.
Central New York/Southern Tier
Members in the region supported the candidacy of seven NYSUT members. As of election night, three were victorious and one was too close to call. NYSUT members sent personalized texts, made hundreds of calls, and knocked on doors on behalf of BOCES Teacher Terry Cuddy, who was re-elected to Auburn City Council as the leading vote getter. Christina Calarco, a high school science teacher, also picked up a Cayuga County legislature seat in her first run for office as a pipeline candidate; fellow NYSUT member Amy Giannettino served as her volunteer campaign manager.
Capital District/North Country
NYSUT PAC and leaders were involved in several races across the region for NYSUT members. They participated in literature drops, phonebanks and other campaign activities. Additionally, members in the Capital District worked diligently on two bond votes prior to Election Day in Guilderland and Bethlehem. With NYSUT’s support, both were successful.
In the North Country, our leaders helped organize candidate forums and Zoom events for the Franklin County Family Court Judge and St. Lawrence County Family Court Judge races. All efforts were coordinated with the local AFL-CIO.
Tarrytown/Mid-Hudson
NYSUT members were involved in sixteen races across the two regions, including supporting the campaigns of seven NYSUT members who were running for office. Two of those members were successful in their bids, adding themselves to the ranks of NYSUT members elected to office. Overall, the region won a little over half the races they were involved in, ending the evening with nine wins and seven losses.
County Executive George Latimer won a decisive 62 percent of the vote on Election night. Latimer’s opponent, Christine Sculti, is one of the leaders and founding members of Save Our Schools. This parent group has been vocally opposed to masks in schools and teaching the truth in education.
Additionally, Westchester Community College (WCC) won nearly all their races. Securing victory for seven out of their eight endorsed candidates, including two NYSUT members, WCC was able to protect incumbents and beat back an entrenched anti-public education candidate.
New York City
As expected, Democratic primary winner Eric Adams was elected as the next mayor of New York City, garnering 66.5 percent of the vote. Jumaane Williams was re-elected to the role of New York City Public Advocate and Brad Lander was elected as New York City Comptroller. NYSUT endorsed candidate Cordell Cleare had a resounding victory in New York Senate District 30, which was recently vacated by Brian Benjamin. Similarly, NYSUT supported Yudelka Tapia was successful in her bid to succeed Victor Pichardo in New York Assembly District 86.
Long Island
NYSUT members on Long Island were involved in supporting two pipeline candidates. Catherine Kent, a retired member of the Riverhead Central Faculty Association and current town councilmember, was unsuccessful in her bid for Riverhead Town Supervisor. Members participated in phonebanks to support her candidacy as well as a mail program.
NYSUT members also supported Tommy John Schiavoni, a retired NYSUT member, in his re-election to the Southampton Town Council. At the end of the evening, it appears that this race is too close to call, but we will be closely monitoring the counting of absentee ballots. NYSUT members participated in phonebanks and texting campaigns to support his candidacy.
Nassau Community College and Suffolk Community College both issued endorsements for County Legislative seats in their respective regions. Supporting primarily incumbents, the majority of their endorsed candidates appear to have been successful on election night. There are some races that remain too close to call that we will be monitoring over the coming days.