For Immediate Release
Wednesday, January 31, 1996
AFSCME Hails Labor's Role in Wyden Victory; McEntee Calls Oregon Race "a Barometer for November 1996"
Washington, DC —Ron Wyden's Senate victory in Oregon yesterday is "exciting proof that progressives can be elected and labor can make the difference," declared Gerald W. McEntee, head of the AFL-CIO Political Education Committee and president of the 1.3- million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO.
"The issues working people care about -- jobs, Medicare and Medicaid, education, and the environment -- are winning issues," said McEntee. "We made the difference and we're proud of our members. Organized labor and AFSCME were at the forefront of the Wyden victory, and we will be at the forefront of this all-out effort in 1996. The results in Oregon are a straw in the wind that will blow across America this year."
McEntee pointed to AFSCME's crucial role in the Oregon campaign, one part of the larger AFL-CIO effort there, as "a barometer of what's to come in November." According to McEntee, in Oregon AFSCME:
- Turned out the largest number of volunteers to the Wyden campaign statewide, including at least 300 volunteer activists for a month-long effort of canvassing voters door-to-door and organizing rallies;
- Called nearly 50,000 union members by phone, 33,000 of which were made through the union's computerized phone bank system;
- Contributed a total of $60,000 -- including the $10,000 maximum amount permitted under federal law directly to the Wyden campaign, $10,000 to the Oregon Democratic party, $30,000 for mailings and ballot collection activities targeting AFSCME's 16,000 members in the state.
"AFSCME volunteers turned out in record numbers in cities and rural areas in all parts of Oregon," said Oregon Council 75 Political Coordinator Mary Botkin. "This was not an election day, this was an election month. Our volunteers had to turn out again and again, and they did, sometimes going door to door when the wind chill was 10 degrees below zero, and in high winds and torrential rains. We turned out more volunteers consistently, and these volunteers did more than I've ever seen over such a long period."
