Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO Takes "No Position" in DC Mayor's Race, Two DC City Council Races, Endorses Graham, McDuffie, Thompson and Mendelson, along with Strauss, Lancaster & Allen
Tuesday, February 25, 2014(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
After
extensive debate and discussion, the Executive Board and delegates of the
Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO voted Monday night to take no position
in the upcoming DC mayoral primary, freeing Council affiliates to endorse the
candidate of their choice. In DC City Council primary races the following
actions were taken: endorsed: Jim
Graham (Ward 1), Kenyan
McDuffie (Ward 5), Darrel Thompson (Ward 6) and
Phil
Mendelson (Chair). The Metro Council took no position in
the following races: Ward
3 and At-Large.
The Council also endorsed
Paul Strauss for DC Shadow Senator. The other candidate endorsed
by the Metro Council was Frank
Lancaster, a retired IBEW member, for Judge in the Charles
County Orphans’ Court, and Fred
Allen of GCIU was endorsed for the DC Democratic State
Committee. “The decision to take no position in the mayor’s race is
neither for nor against any particular candidate,” said Metro Council
president
Joslyn N. Williams. “There are a number of candidates who have been good to
labor and we have affiliates who support various candidates; we encourage each
of our affiliates to look at all those running and make their own decisions
about endorsement and support.” The Metro Washington Council “stands ready
to
support our affiliates and we look forward to coming together after the primary
as we work to improve the lives of working families throughout the metropolitan
Washington area,” said Williams.
In other mayoral
endorsement news,
UFCW 400 endorsed Vincent Orange on Monday, Feb 24, calling the three-term
council member “a fighter for D.C.’s working families” who has a
“high-road
economic development strategy based on lifting our people and neighborhoods up,
rather than sending us on a race to the bottom through poverty
jobs.” The
Washington Building and Construction Trades Council on Monday endorsed Vincent
Gray; the Laborers had endorsed him on Friday. “Mayor Gray understands that
the
only way for D.C. to have a vibrant middle class is for business and labor to
work together to bring good jobs and economic development to the District,”
said Dennis L. Martire, LIUNA’s top regional official.
photo: during the
debate; photo by Chris Garlock