CWA Activists and Allies Elect Houston's Mayor

Sylvester Turner won election as mayor of Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, with a lot of grassroots help from CWA activists and other allies in the runoff election.

Turner, a longtime state lawmaker, won 51 percent of the runoff vote to defeat Bill King, a businessman who got 49 percent of the vote. Turner takes office in January 2016.

CWA District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings, left, with Houston Mayor-Elect Sylvester Turner.

"As we demonstrated in this election, it is not enough for us to go out and vote," CWA District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings said. "We needed to get everyone who is able to vote out to the polls to vote on Election Day. As political observers have been telling us, our efforts in this race made a critical difference and may have even supplied the margin of victory. We do this because the person who governs this city, one of the nation's fastest growing cities, will make a difference in the lives of workers and in the lives of people in Houston."

Cummings spent the last two weeks of the campaign talking to the public on African-American radio stations about the importance of electing a worker-friendly mayor. CWA and our labor partners joined together to create and run the biggest volunteer program ever attempted in a Texas municipal election. CWA, AFSCME, and AFT focused on over 100,000 voters in Harris County. Our activists and volunteers knocked on over 65,000 doors in the general election and another 100,000 in the runoff. Turner won the election by 4,000 votes (or 2%), proof that a labor and economic agenda resonated with voters.

CWA's field program knocked on over 10,000 doors during the general election. CWA Boot Campers led the worksite engagement by going into the field to have direct conversations about issues in the race, resulting in volunteer recruitment for block walks, phone banks, and opportunities to join the Political Action Fund.

Beyond the activists who did heroic work, CWA Locals 6186, 6201, 6215, and 6222 allowed space and time for their activists to participate in the unprecedented win.