Members in Politics: Patience Will Pay Off

Winning isn't everything.  

Of course, it's the ultimate goal of any political candidate, but the foundation laid by passionate, energetic — yet, losing — campaigns can reap success in years to come.

Just ask CWA District 1 Representative Larry DeAngelis, who has twice run as a Working Families candidate for a seat long held by a staunch conservative on the 18-member Nassau County Legislature in New York.

Before the first big push by labor to elect DeAngelis in 2000, candidates trying to unseat the incumbent had received no more than 24 percent of the vote. But a face-to-face campaign that union members took to churches, community groups and neighborhoods in the hugely diverse district — 74 languages are spoken there — made a big difference. DeAngelis got 46 percent of the vote and in subsequent elections he and other labor candidates have made further inroads.

"We're going to win this seat eventually," he says. "What we've learned is that when people band together, even if they're from different cultures and speak different languages, their issues are the same."