Why I'm An Activist: Joe Mayhew

The race that got me really politically active was John Hall’s 2006 challenge to a longtime Republican incumbent who one who believed could be beaten. She had a just horrible labor record. It was my first year as my state’s legislative political coordinator. We promised to get 100 pairs of boots on the street and do whatever it took to get Hall a win. He won by 3,000 votes.

Here we are again six years later. Because of redistricting, Hall’s 19th district is now the new 18th. We lost that seat to a tea party Republican who again has a 0 percent voting record with CWA.

Sometimes people think, “Oh, what does New York matter? It always votes Democratic. We’re not a swing state.” But what we are is a firewall state. We have to make sure we have enough smart Democrats in Congress, so when the rest of the country goes crazy and wants to pass national “right to work” legislation, we’re a firewall that says, “Hey, that’s not going to happen.”

We have to take back some of these seats we’ve lost. We have to work twice as hard as we did in 2006. We’re not just fighting for Sean Patrick Maloney in the 18th. We need to elect state Senate candidate Justin Wagner, who understands what working families are all about and will help CWA pass good bills, and President Obama.

There’s a visceral reaction from the Republican Party towards labor unions and workers. I’m just amazed at how they just have no concern for us. It’s a bottom-line corporate America attitude where people don’t seem to count any more. It’s so disturbing. A Romney presidency would just destroy the middle class. We can’t let that happen. What’s at stake is literally our way our life.