Earlier this month, SEIU Local 32BJ announced their endorsements for state Legislature.
For state assemblymen, 32 BJ endorsed Karim Camara in the 43rd District, Jeffrion Aubry in the 35th District, Inez Barron in the in the 60th District, Sheldon Silver in the 65th District and Keith Wright in the 70th District.
In a released statement, 32BJ Secretary-Treasurer Hector Figueroa took New York state Republicans to task.
“Unlike state Republicans in the past, New York’s current Republican state senators have failed our state by refusing to pass crucial, common sense legislation that would benefit middle-class and working New Yorkers,” said Figueroa. “They refused to raise the minimum wage, opposed a bill to force utilities like Con Ed to abide by the state’s prevailing wage law and chose to continue the corruption of our political system by blocking campaign finance reform.”
According to 32BJ, the endorsement process was decided by candidate screening and how much the candidates align with their policies, including support for a prevailing wage bill.
In the state Senate, 32BJ endorsed Jose Peralta in the 13th District, Malcolm Smith in the 14th District, John Sampson in the 19th District, Eric Adams in the 20th District, Kevin Parker in the 21st District, Bill Perkins in the 30th District and Adriano Espaillat in the 31st District.
While many of the aforementioned are incumbents, there are a few that 32BJ chose not to endorse. One case being state Sen. Marty Golden, a Republican. The union is endorsing his Democratic challenger, Andrew Gounardes, in the 22nd District. Another case is incumbent Republican state Sen. Greg Ball in the 40th District. 32BJ announced their endorsement of liberal challenger Justin Wagner.
“At a time when so many New Yorkers are struggling to get by, our union stands strongly with Democratic challengers who will fight in the state Senate for fairness to middle-class and working families,” said Figueroa.