AFSCME Gets Out The Vote

We Are Unbowed!

Although we endured a hard day at the polls in November, AFSCME remains unbowed, ever proud and far from defeated. The enormous get-out-the-vote effort by our union, its members and staff helped produce an historic voter turnout and, in several battleground states, resounding victories. We contacted AFSCME members in battleground states at least eight times, and spent an unprecedented $48 million on political activities — including $15 million in political action funds.

AFSCME will continue to work tirelessly in behalf of our members and their families. Our challenge now is to bring their issues — increasing the minimum wage, providing affordable health care for every American, protecting Social Security from efforts to privatize it, and others — front and center on the national agenda and to keep them there until we get what we deserve.

Minneapolis

Sue Hauge, chief steward of Local 668 (Council 5), leads the cheers at a huge Kerry/Edwards rally in downtown Minneapolis. Thirty thousand people turned out, and another 5,000 who couldn't get in stood on the periphery and listened to loudspeakers. AFSCME made a special effort among the Twin Cities' large and growing Hmong population (whose origins are in Laos and Cambodia). Several pre election mailings in the Hmong language were sent to nearly 6,000 households.

Las Vegas

A determined John Kerry is almost engulfed by AFSCME and allied-union signs as he spoke at a rally in a Las Vegas park. Members of the State of Nevada Employees Association/AFSCME Local 4041 worked evening phone banks, door knocked and gave up their weekends to chauffeur California AFSCMEites who volunteered to do Nevada "lit drops." Explained the local's Darhyl Vann, a corrections officer and former SNEA official: "America needs a pay raise, and so does Nevada."

Denver Area

Strolling into their and his political future, members of Colorado Council 76 campaign with Dave Thomas, Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District seat. Thomas is the district attorney of Jefferson County. After making a strong showing early in the race, he was victimized by attack ads orchestrated by his Republican opponent. AFSCME's support did help elect a worker-friendly U.S. Senator, Democrat Ken Salazar, who defeated brewing-family scion Pete Coors in a closely contested battle.

Philadelphia

With smiles but also attitude ("This is a necessity!"), Dolores Short distributes Kerry/Edwards flyers as a shift ends at Philadelphia's Hahnemann Hospital. Short, a Local 394 (Council 33) retiree, now works for the council. Also in Philly, members of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE)/AFSCME Local 1199 made dawn distributions at such locations as Drexel University's College of Medicine. The huge majorities AFSCME helped build for Kerry in Philadelphia, and to a lesser extent Pittsburgh, offset President Bush's lead almost everywhere else in the state.

Grandview, Ohio

Three generations of an Ohio AFSCME family pounded the pavements for John Kerry. Diana Vernon, a member of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees/AFSCME Local 4, works for the Grandview School District; her father, Donald, worked there until his retirement; her daughter, Jessica, may also have AFSCME in her future. AFSCME retiree Paula Whisman, who campaigned in Pike County, spoke for members nationwide when she declared of the election: "We need a new direction!"

Portland, Oregon

Council 75 members and their signs were plentiful during one of candidate Kerry's numerous visits to Oregon. Seventy-five's campaigners helped put the state, supposedly up for grabs, solidly in the Democratic column. Thanks to Oregon's mail-in ballot, council political operatives were able to tell on a day-by-day basis which members had already voted and to remind the others to do so. A whopping 91 percent of the state's AFSCME members voted in 2000, and in the final analysis, the '04 figure was expected to be at least that high.

This portion of the website is posted in full compliance with FEC regulations (11C.F.R. Sect.11 4.5(i)). It is paid for by the AFSCME PEOPLE Committee, with voluntary contributions from union members and their families, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.