Union Members Celebrate Election Victories in New Mexico, Texas

CWAers in New Mexico helped Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, the former president of CWA Local 7037, win a second term in this week's mayoral election.

A month of solid campaigning by CWA members in New Mexico and an intense get-out-the-vote effort Tuesday gave a former CWA local president a decisive second term win as Santa Fe's mayor.

David Coss won 58 percent of the vote and beat two challengers. He was president of CWA Local 7037 when it began organizing public workers in the 1980s.

"David tells people, 'I come from labor. I am labor. I don't forget labor,'" said New Mexico State Employee Alliance-CWA President Robin Gould.

As a city councilor before first being elected mayor in 2006, Coss supported public workers in the successful campaign for bargaining rights and continues to champion worker issues.

In another election victory, former AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson won the Democrat primary for lieutenant governor in Texas. She will face Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst Nov. 2.

"I'm humbled to have won the Democratic primary without a runoff," Chavez-Thompson said. "Our job is just beginning as we take our message to independent voters, frustrated voters, and working families."