Pennsylvania Elects Union Members to Office
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/5pa31_F12u9j/

by Seth Michaels, Nov 21, 2007

The union movement played a major role in Pennsylvania’s state and local elections this year by knocking on doors and getting out the vote—and by electing other union members to public office. Union members ran for, and won, elected offices across the state.

At least 23 active and retired union members were elected or re-elected in Pennsylvania this month. Topping the ticket: newly elected state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey, who as a Philadelphia police officer was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). McCaffrey earned more than 1.2 million votes and joins Justice Tom Saylor, a former member of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butchery Workmen (AMCBW), on the court.

Other union members who will serve as elected leaders around the state include 12 county commissioners, three city and borough councillors, two judges and five other elected officials.

The efforts in Pennsylvania parallel similar successes in New Jersey, where dozens of union members ran for and won elected office this year. Seven members of New Jersey’s state legislature are current or former union members, and 26 other union candidates won local offices. (A full list of New Jersey’s winning union candidates is available from the original article at the link above in PDF format.)

The election of so many current and former union members is a step toward better laws and policies that benefit working families.

Here are the successful union candidates in Pennsylvania’s 2007 elections:

Supreme Court Justice: Seamus McCaffrey, FOP
Supreme Court Justice: Tom Saylor, AMCBW
Allegheny County Council Member: Joan Cleary, SEIU
Allegheny County Council Member At-Large: John DeFazio, United Steelworkers (USW)
Beaver County Commissioners: Joe Spanik, Laborers (LIUNA), Tony Amadio, PSEA
Beaver County Common Pleas Judge: Kim Tesla, LIUNA/USW
Beaver County Prothonotary: Nancy Werme, Teamsters
Erie County Council Member: Phil Fatica, PSEA
Fayette County Register of Wills: Donald Redman, Mine Workers (UMWA)
Fayette County Prothonotary: Lance Winterhalter, UMWA
Lancaster City Council Member: Joe Morales, PSEA
Lycoming County Commissioner: Ernie Larson, Bricklayers
Mercer County Commissioners: Brian Beader, Electrical Workers (IBEW), Ken Amman, USW
Montour County Commissioner: Jerry Ward, AFSCME
Moore Township Tax Collector: Michael Wallery, USW
Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge: Bob Mulgrew, IBEW
Schuylkill Haven Borough Council: Mike Devlin, IBEW
Schuylkill County Commissioners: Mantura Gallagher, PSEA, Frank McAndrew, FOP
Westmoreland County Commissioner: Tom Ceraso, Utility Workers
Westmoreland County Prothonotary: Ron Diehl, USW
Wilkes-Barre City Council: Tony Thomas, USW