Labor Goes All Out In MD For O'Malley And Brown

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Hundreds of union members in Montgomery, Tri-County and Prince George's Counties rallied in support of Martin O'Malley for Governor and Anthony Brown for Lt. Governor on Saturday, reports Metro Washington Council Legislative and Political Coordinator Rick Powell. “Saturday's rallies were part of a statewide effort sponsored by the Maryland State and District of Columbia, AFL-CIO to encourage union members to vote early,” Powell told Union City.  “Lt. Governor Anthony Brown appeared in Prince George's County at IBEW Local 26 and was joined by Congresswoman Donna Edwards of the 4th Congressional District and local county elected officials to thank and fire up more than 150 union members.” Metro Council President Jos Williams emceed the event, calling on the crowd to “spread the word that we need union members to vote early and show up on Election Day to support the labor-endorsed candidates so that we can continue the gains working people have made over the last four years.” Powell told Union City that Steny Hoyer - Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives - led the political line-up for the Tri-County rally that took place in Charles County and was joined by Lt. Governor Brown and MD/DC AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Donna Edwards. “Early voting began Friday,” added Powell. “Former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joined labor canvassers hitting the doors in Montgomery County,” Metro Council Assistant Political Coordinator Alya Solomon told Union City. “Handing out early voting information, President Sweeney thanked union brothers and sisters for giving up their time to knock on doors for O'Malley. We knocked on approximately 700 union doors Saturday and hope to double that next week leading up to the November 2 General Election.” Phonebanking and door-knocking continues all week in Maryland, DC and Virginia; click here for the latest list of activities. - photo by Terese Bouey