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The Western Kentucky Worker | |
Official newsletter of the Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO
Prepared by Berry Craig, KEA-NEA and AFT- Kentucky
Volume 7, Number 11, December 2006
Most union-endorsed candidates won their races
Most labor-backed candidates from western Kentucky were elected or re-elected on Nov. 7. "It was a good night for unions locally, statewide and across the country," said Jeff Wiggins, council president.
Wiggins recalled that "Stand Up. Fight Back!" was the motto of the 2006 Paducah Labor Day parade. "All across America , labor people stood up and fought back," he said. "They helped elect or re-elect candidates who will stand up for us against anti-union politicians like Mayor Bill Paxton, Gov. Ernie Fletcher and President George W. Bush."
Wiggins said local labor's top priority was returning State Rep. J.R. Gray, D-Benton, to Frankfort . Gray, a veteran lawmaker, beat Republican Marvin Wilson, an Eddyville attorney, in a rematch from two years ago.
"It didn't surprise me J.R. won by a good margin," Wiggins said. "The only reason Wilson got fairly close last time was Bush's coattails."
Gray, whom the state AFL-CIO endorsed early, is chairman of the House Labor and Industry Committee. "J.R. is labor's best friend in Frankfort ," Wiggins said. "As long as he is sitting in his committee chair and [House] Speaker [Jody] Richards is wielding his gavel, we won't have a right-to-work law in Kentucky ."
Richards is a Bowling Green Democrat.
The state AFL-CIO also got behind another longtime local legislator, State Rep. Frank Rasche, D-Paducah. He defeated Paducah Republican Bruce Brockenborough by about a 2-1 margin.
Brockenborough, who owns Hannan Supply, courted labor. He visited the council and told delegates he opposed a right-to-work law and supported the prevailing wage.
"But if the Republicans had won the House, an anti-union Republican would be chairing J.R.'s committee, an anti-union Republican would be speaker, and, with a Republican senate and a Republican governor, we'd have a right-to-work law, and you could say goodbye to the prevailing wage," Wiggins said. "The Democrats picked up more seats, making the House even stronger against another move by the governor and his friends for a right-to-work law and for repealing the prevailing wage."
Rasche also is against right-to-work law and for the prevailing wage.
When he came to the council seeking support, he got it. "Frank hasn't always been with us," Wiggins conceded. "He said he appreciated us. We will be counting on him to stand with us when the legislature meets in January."
Like Rasche, State Rep. Steven Rudy, a West Paducah Republican, is again going to Frankfort . The state AFL-CIO endorsed him over Democrat Tom French, who lives near Fancy Farm. Rudy, who won a second term, got the labor nod because he said he was anti-right-to-work law and pro prevailing wage, Wiggins said. But he added that many, if not most, council delegates ended up questioning the Rudy endorsement.
"I admit I had second thoughts about it after I got to know Tom," Wiggins said. "I told anybody who asked me, 'Yes, Rudy was labor-endorsed.' But I also said, 'Let your conscience be your guide in that one.' Tom was strong for labor."
Rudy touted the state AFL-CIO endorsement in his campaign advertising, including flyers, Wiggins said. But honorary delegate Ken Tyler said the Rudy literature he saw did not have a union label.
"I'm going to talk to Rudy," Wiggins said. "I am going to tell him he got a lot of mileage out of us. I am also going to tell him we are going to be watching him in Frankfort and keeping his feet to the fire."
Wiggins also said local labor will be closely following the Paducah City Commission. Two of three labor-endorsed candidates -- incumbent Robert Coleman and newcomer Gerald Watkins -- won seats.
"Robert was the only friend labor had at city hall and we wanted to get him some help," Wiggins said. "Gerald won and Richard Abraham [the other union-backed candidate] came close."
Watkins is a political science professor at West Kentucky Community and Technical College . "I appreciate labor support from the bottom of my heart," he said. "I couldn't have made it without your help. I will be there for all the working people of Paducah ."
Wiggins said Mayor Paxton and Commissioners George Sirk and Buzz Smith "were out to destroy the Firefighter and city employees unions. They even endorsed Gov. Fletcher's proposal for a right-to-work law.'" Sirk was defeated, but Smith was reelected. "The other new face will be Gail Kaler," Wiggins said. "I hope we can work with her, too."
In addition, the state AFL-CIO endorsed Tom Barlow, a Paducah Democrat who lost to U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield by a wide margin. "Tom's a great guy," Wiggins said. "But we've got to find a viable candidate."
Barlow was elected to Congress in 1992. Whitfield beat him two years later and has won seven more terms.
"Whitfield is one of the most anti-union members of Congress," Wiggins said. "We've got to get him out of there. Tom has always been our friend. But we've got to find somebody who can beat Whitfield."
In other races, council Trustee Lewis Hicks was reelected mayor of La Center. "Lewis was the only mayor we endorsed," Wiggins said. "Some of us even went down and marched in a parade for him."
Another big winner was labor-endorsed Jon Hayden, a Democrat who won the McCracken County sheriff's race over Republican Jeff Reidfort.
"That was one of the biggest blowouts on Nov. 7," Wiggins said. "Jon looks like a real rising star in McCracken County politics."
On the other hand, a veteran politician with union-backing lost a close race. Former Congressman Carroll Hubbard of Paducah came up fewer than 60 votes short in a three-man scramble for the state senate.
The incumbent, Bob Leeper of Paducah , bested Hubbard and Republican Neil Archer. Leeper was elected as a Democrat in 1990, 1994 and 1998. He switched to the GOP in 1999 and was reelected -- barely -- as a Republican in 2002. He declared himself an independent in 2005.
Also, Court of Appeals Judge Rick Johnson of Symsonia lost his battle for the state Supreme Court against Circuit Judge Bill Cunningham of Kuttawa. "That was a big disappointment," Wiggins said. "We were proud to endorse Rick, who has been our friend for a long time."
Two AFL-CIO endorsed lawmakers from western Kentucky won reelection without opposition: Fred Nesler, D-Mayfield, and Mike Cherry, D-Princeton. Labor-endorsed Democrat Van Newberry had no Republican opponent in his race for McCracken County judge-executive. "We congratulate all of them," Wiggins said. Other union-endorsed candidates who triumphed included:
Court of Appeals, District 1, Division I, Shea Nickell, Paducah; Court of Appeals, District 1, Division 2, Donna Dixon, Paducah; McCracken County Commissioner, District 2, Jerry Beyer, D; McCracken County Court Clerk, Jeff Jerrell, D; Marshall County Judge-Executive, Mike Miller, D; Marshall County Commissioners Jerry English, D, and Terry Anderson, D; Marshall County Sheriff, Kevin Byars, D; and Marshall County Coroner, Mitchell Lee, D.
"Organized labor worked very hard in this election at the state, local and national levels," Wiggins said. "We did phone banking and we went door to door. We hand billed our plants. We really did 'Stand Up and Fight Back.'"
Return to Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council Home Page
Four winners visited council before the vote
Four local candidates and Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan came calling at the November council meeting.
"Thanks for what you do for the party," Lundergan said, adding that he hoped organized labor's "time and effort" will help give "[Republican Senate Majority Leader] David Williams the biggest nightmare of his life Tuesday night."
Lundergan said he expected union volunteers to help several Democrats claim victory on election day. He also cited some history.
"If unions hadn't done what they did, we wouldn't have Dorsey Ridley in the state senate right now," Lundergan said. Ridley, a Henderson Democrat, won a special election two years ago for the seat opened by the death of Paul Herron, also a Democrat from Henderson .
The candidates -- Tony Kitchen, Jon Hayden, Jerry Beyer and State Rep. J.R. Gray -- spoke briefly. All four won their elections.
Kitchen was elected district judge in McCracken County over Will Kautz, whom the council endorsed. The race was non-partisan.
"Put a kitchen in the courthouse," Kitchen joked with the delegates.
Hayden, a council-endorsed Democrat, was elected sheriff in a landslide over Republican Jeff Riedfort. "You endorsed me in the primary back in the spring, and I appreciated that," Hayden said.
Gray, a Benton Democrat, won another term, besting Republican Marvin Wilson of Eddyville. "There is no way I can win without you," Gray told the delegates.
"There is so much at stake. If I were to lose and the Republicans were to win the house, Stan Lee would take over as chairman of my committee, and we'd have a right-to-work law."
The labor-endorsed Gray chairs the House Labor and Industry Committee. A former Machinists' union official, Gray is considered labor's best friend in the legislature.
Jerry Beyer, who also received the council nod, was elected to the McCracken County Fiscal Court . "I appreciated your help in the primary, and I appreciate your help in the general election," he said. "Democrats help people. Unions help people -- the average people, not rich people."
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Continental General Tire is closing February 1
The Continental General Tire Plant at Mayfield is expected to shut down on schedule Feb. 1, according to Wayne Chambers, the plant union's vice president and a council trustee.
"We've mixed our last batch of rubber," said Chambers, the number two officer of Steelworkers Local 665. "We knew it was coming, but we had a long run. Still, it's sad."
Mayfield production is being shifted to low-wage overseas countries, the union says. "If you want a new car, and it has Continentals on it, you tell the dealer to take them, or you're not going to have the car," said Jeff Wiggins, council president. "Tell them you want union-made tires from America ."
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Union members voted 3-1 Democratic nationally
Union votes helped the Democrats win back the U.S. House and Senate on election day. "Union households voted 74 percent to 26 percent for Democratic candidates-and union members made up one in four voters," according to the AFL-CIO's Internet website. "In key battleground states, union members voted 76 percent to 24 percent for Democrats."
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Got news? Email it to Berry Craig at bcraig8960@charter.net or Jeff Wiggins at JLWiggins2@Juno.com.