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UPDATE OCT. 20: NYSUT has expanded its bipartisan list of political endorsements, noting the state's worsening economy will require leaders who will address budget concerns while defending education and health care services from devastating mid-year cuts. READ MORE.
ALBANY, N.Y. August 13, 2008 - Acting four days after a Senate vote on Gov. David Paterson's tax cap bill, the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers suspended the endorsements of all senators, Democrat and Republican, who voted 'yes' and said it is carefully reviewing the position of every Assembly member on the proposal which would harm children and public education.
"Those who choose political expediency over the future of New York's children and public schools - and favor a gimmick that offers only the illusion of tax relief over a real reduction in property taxes for over-burdened homeowners - will not earn our endorsement," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "They made a choice, and we are making ours."
NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan B. Lubin said the union's local and state political action committees and Board of Directors, in voting that concluded on Wednesday, endorsed "those candidates who have clearly taken a principled stand, rejecting a cap while supporting other solutions - such as a 'circuit breaker' or restoration of the millionaire's tax - that would help lighten the property tax burden on senior citizens and middle-class families, without hammering children and their schools with an artificial tax cap."
"This is perhaps the most critical issue facing public education in a generation. Those who are taking a stand against a destructive tax cap can rightly call themselves a champion of children and equity in public education," Lubin said, adding, "NYSUT members are property taxpayers, too, and they, too, want relief, but not at the expense of their schools and schoolchildren." The board then unanimously passed an unprecedented resolution to suspend endorsement of all senators who supported the cap.
Lubin noted the union could decide to review its decision after the August 19 special session and at any time before Election Day.
"The door is not closed," Lubin said. "This bad bill is not yet bad law. There is still time for the Senate to do right by children and public education – as well as property taxpayers."
In addition to supporting 20 senators and many Assembly members, NYSUT also issued endorsements in congressional races. A complete list of NYSUT-endorsed candidates is attached.
Lubin noted that candidates covet NYSUT's endorsement. "NYSUT members live in every zip code of the state. They're passionate about the issues and volunteer to campaign for those candidates willing to fight for public education, health care and the rights of working New Yorkers."
In addition to receiving financial support for their campaigns, Lubin said candidates receiving NYSUT's endorsement can expect to see union activists handing out flyers; sending out mailings; walking door-to-door; working the polls; and manning the state's largest network of phone banks. He said the union's phone banks are expected to make well over a half-million phone calls on behalf of its endorsed candidates.
The last time NYSUT withheld a large block of endorsements was in 2004, when the union's political action committees chose not to endorse those Assembly members who failed to join an over-ride of $1 billion in cuts to public education.
NYSUT, the state's largest union, represents some 600,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; faculty and other professionals at the state's community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York, and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
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This portion of the web site is paid for by VOICE OF TEACHERS FOR EDUCATION/ COMMUNICATIONS ON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (VOTE/COPE), with voluntary contributions from union members and their families, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Listing by Congressional District
1
D/I/W
Timothy Bishop
2
D/I/W
Steve J. Israel
3
No Endorsement
4
D/I/W
Carolyn McCarthy
5
D/I/W
Gary L. Ackerman
6
D
Gregory Meeks in Primary, then in General Election
7
D/W
Joseph Crowley
8
D/W
Jerrold Nadler
9
D/W
Anthony Weiner
10
D
Edolphus Towns in Primary, then in General Election
11
D/W
Yvette Clarke
12
D/W
Nydia Velazquez
13
D/W
Michael McMahon in Primary, then in General Election
14
D/W
Carolyn Maloney
15
D/W
Charles Rangel
16
D/W
Jose E. Serrano
17
D/W/I
Eliot L. Engel
18
D/W
Nita M. Lowey
19
D/I/W
John Hall
20
D/I/W
Kirsten E. Gillibrand
21
D/W
Paul Tonko
22
D/I/W
Maurice D. Hinchey
23
R/I/C
John M. McHugh
24
D/W
Michael A. Arcuri
25
D/W
Daniel B. Maffei
26
D/W
Jonathan P. Powers, in Primary, then in General Election
27
D/I/W
Brian Higgins
28
D/W/I
Louise M. Slaughter
29
D/W
Eric J. Massa
New YorkStateSenate
Listing by Senate District
1
No Endorsement
2
No Endorsement
3
No Endorsement
4
No Endorsement
5
No Endorsement
6
No Endorsement
7
No Endorsement
8
No Endorsement
9
No Endorsement
10
D/W
Shirley Huntley in Primary, then in General Election
11
No Endorsement
12
D
George Onorato
13
D/W
Hiram Monserrate
14
No Endorsement
15
No Endorsement
16
D/W
Toby Ann Stavisky, in Primary, then in General Election
17
D
Martin M. Dilan
18
D/W
Velmanette Montgomery
19
D/W
John Sampson
20
D/W
Eric Adams
21
D/W
Kevin Parker in Primary, then in General Election
22
No Endorsement
23
D/W
Diane Savino
24
No Endorsement
25
D
Martin Connor in Primary, then in General Election
26
D/W
Elizabeth Krueger
27
D
Carl Kruger
28
D/W
Jose Serrano, Jr.
29
D/W
Thomas K. Duane
30
D/W
Bill Perkins
31
D/W
Eric T. Schneiderman
32
D/R
Ruben Diaz, Sr
33
D
Efrain Gonzalez Jr., in Primary, then in General Election
34
No Endorsement
35
D
Andrea Stewart Cousins
36
D/W
Ruth Hassell-Thompson in Primary, then in General Election
37
D/W
Suzi Oppenheimer
38
No Endorsement
39
No Endorsement
40
No Endorsement
41
No Endorsement
42
No Endorsement
43
R/I/C
Roy McDonald
44
No Endorsement
45
No Endorsement
46
D
Neil Breslin
47
No Endorsement
48
No Endorsement
49
No Endorsement
50
No Endorsement
51
No Endorsement
52
No Endorsement
53
No Endorsement
54
No Endorsement
55
No Endorsement
56
No Endorsement
57
No Endorsement
58
No Endorsement
59
No Endorsement
60
D/W/I
Antoine M. Thompson in Primary, then in General Election
61
Open Seat, No Endorsement
62
No Endorsement
New YorkStateAssembly
Listing by Assembly District
1
D/I/W
Marc Alessi
2
R/I/C/W
Fred Thiele
3
D/I/W
Patricia Eddington in Primary, then in General Election
4
D/I/W
Steven Englebright
5
D/I
Ginny Fields
6
D/I/W
Philip Ramos in Primary, then in General Election
7
No Endorsement
8
R/I/C
Philip Boyle
9
R/I/C
Andrew Raia
10
R/C/I
James D. Conte
11
D/I/W
Robert Sweeney
12
R/I/C/W
Joseph Saladino
13
D/I/W
Charles Lavine
14
R/I/C/W
Robert Barra
15
R/C/I/W
Robert Walker
16
D/I/W
Michelle Schimel
17
R/C/I
Thomas McKevitt
18
D/I
Earlene Hooper in Primary, then in General Election
19
R/I/C/W
David McDonough
20
D/I/W
Harvey Weisenberg
21
R/I/C/W
Thomas Alfano
22
D/I/W
Ellen Young in Primary, then in General Election
23
D/W
Audrey Pheffer
24
D/W
Mark Weprin
25
D/W
Rory Lancman
26
D/W
Ann M. Carozza
27
D
Nettie Mayersohn
28
D/W
Andrew Hevesi
29
D/W
William Scarborough
30
D
Margaret Markey
31
D/W
Michelle Titus
32
D/W
Vivian Cook
33
D/W
Barbara Clark
34
Open Seat, No Endorsement
35
D
Jeffrion Aubry
36
D/W
Michael Gianaris
37
D
Catherine Nolan
38
D/R/I/C
Anthony Seminerio
39
D/W
Jose Peralta
40
Open Seat, No Endorsement
41
D/W
Helene Weinstein
42
D
Rhoda Jacobs in Primary, then in General Election
43
D/W
Karim Camara
44
D/W
James Brennan
45
D/R/W
Steven Cymbrowitz
46
D/W
Alec Brooks-Krasny
47
D/W
William Colton
48
No Endorsement
49
D/W
Peter Abbate, Jr.
50
D
Joseph Lentol in Primary, then in General Election
51
D/W
Felix Ortiz
52
D/W
Joan Millman
53
No Endorsement
54
D/W
Darryl Towns
55
D/W
William Boyland in Primary, then in General Election
56
D
Annette Robinson in Primary, then in General Election
57
D/W
Hakeem Jeffries
58
D/W
Nick Perry
59
D
Alan Maisel
60
D/I/W
Janele Hyer-Spencer
61
D/W
Matthew Titone
62
R/I/C
Louis Tobacco
63
D/I/C/W
Michael Cusick
64
D/W
Sheldon Silver in Primary, then in General Election
65
D/W
Micah Kellner
66
D/W
Deborah Glick
67
D/W
Linda Rosenthal
68
D
Adam Clayton Powell
69
D
Daniel O’Donnell
70
D/W
Keith Wright
71
D
Herman Farrell, Jr.
72
D/W
Adriano Espaillat in Primary, then in General Election
73
D/W
Jonathan Bing
74
D/W
Brian Kavanagh
75
D/W
Richard Gottfried
76
D/W
Peter Rivera
77
D/W
Aurelia Greene
78
D
Jose Rivera
79
D/W
Michael Benjamin
80
D
Naomi Rivera
81
D/W
Jeffrey Dinowitz
82
D/W
Michael Benedetto
83
D/W
Carl E. Heastie in Primary, then in General Election
84
D
Carmen Arroyo
85
D/W
Ruben Diaz, Jr.
86
Open Seat, No Endorsement
87
D/I
James Pretlow
88
D/I/W
Amy Paulin
89
D/I/W
Adam Bradley
90
No Endorsement
91
D/I/W
George Latimer
92
D/W
Richard Brodsky
93
D/C/W
Mike Spano
94
D/I/C/W
Kenneth Zebrowski
95
D/I/W
Ellen Jaffee in Primary, then in General Election
96
No Endorsement
97
R/I/C/W
Ann G. Rabbitt
98
D/C/I
Aileen Gunther
99
No Endorsement
100
R/C/I
Thomas J. Kirwan
101
D/I/W
Kevin A. Cahill
102
R/I/C
Joel Miller
103
No Endorsement
104
D
John McEneny
105
D/I/W
Mark Blanchfield
106
D/I/W
Ronald J. Canestrari
107
R/I
Clifford W. Crouch
108
D/I/W
Timothy P. Gordon
109
D/I/W
Robert Reilly
110
R/I/C
James N. Tedisco
111
D/I
Bill Magee
112
Open Seat, No Endorsement
113
R/I/C
Teresa R. Sayward
114
R/I/C
Janet L. Duprey
115
R/C/W
David R. Townsend, Jr. in Primary, then in General Election
116
D
RoAnn Destito
117
R/I/C
Marc W. Butler
118
Open Seat, No Endorsement
119
D/I
Joan Christensen
120
D/I
William Magnarelli
121
D
Albert Stirpe
122
R/I/C/W
Deidre Scozzafava
123
R/I/C
Gary D. Finch
124
R/C/I
Will A. Barclay
125
D/W
Barbara S. Lifton
126
D/W
Donna Lupardo
127
No Endorsement
128
R/C
Robert C. Oaks
129
No Endorsement
130
R/I/C
Joe Errigo
131
D/W
Susan John
132
No Endorsement
133
No Endorsement
134
R/I/C
William Reilich
135
D/W
David R. Koon
136
No Endorsement
137
No Endorsement
138
D/W
Francine DelMonte
139
R/I/C
Stephen Hawley
140
No Endorsement
141
D
Crystal Peoples
142
R
Michael Cole in Primary, then in General Election
143
D/I/C
Dennis Gabryszak
144
D
Barbra A. Kavanaugh
145
D
Mark Schroeder
146
No Endorsement
147
R/I/C
Daniel J. Burling
148
R/C/I
James P. Hayes
149
R/I/C
Joseph M. Giglio
150
D/I
William Parment