1199SEIU members in Central New York are very proud of the ground campaign they waged, along with members of their local sister labor unions that helped Dan Maffei win the local Congressional race. A weak ground effort in 2010 allowed Tea Party supporter Ann Marie Buerkle to win by a narrow margin of about 600 votes. This year, labor’s get-out-the-vote effort sent Dan Maffei to Congress, and sent Buerkle home.



For weeks, 1199ers and other union activists marched and rallied, spent their weekends going door-to-door to talk to union members and other neighbors about the importance of this election, and spent evenings calling members to make sure they were getting out the vote.



From Syracuse and other cities, to the suburbs and into the countryside, the labor canvassing was intense. In addition to Maffei, three of 1199’s endorsed New York State Assembly candidates are going back to Albany: Al Stirpe who won 55 percent of the vote, Sam Roberts won 67 percent, and Bill Magee who won 61 percent.