Thank you to everyone who voted and volunteered to get out the vote for labor’s candidates on Election Day! The midterm elections saw high voter turnout, especially among young voters, and the results defied expectations of a “red wave.”
At the top of the ticket in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul won re-election, becoming the first woman elected governor of New York State. Hochul defeated the Republican Lee Zeldin in a tight race, but Republicans flipped Congressional and State Senate seats on Long Island and in the Hudson River Valley. Congratulations to our endorsed candidates — Rep. Grace Meng for Congress, Jessica Scarcella-Spanton for State Senate, State Senator Toby Stavisky, State Senator Shelley Mayer, State Senator Peter Harckham, and Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal — on their victorious campaigns. The race in Assembly District 23 (Rockaways) is still too close to call.
Proposition 1 (Environmental Bond Act of 2022) and the three (3) racial justice ballot propositions in New York City were all approved by overwhelming majorities of voters.
Nationally, the Democrats will maintain a majority in the U.S. Senate, but the Republicans will overtake the majority in the House of Representatives. President Joe Biden will have to deal with a split Congress in order to build on his legislative agenda, which has been pro-worker, pro-union, and pro-American made.
