Celebrate Election Day: VOTE!

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Overwhelmed with the demands of a new job, I haven’t had time to be too politically active, to blog, or even to cook for that matter. For the last two months, I’ve been surviving on coffee and take out. (The guy who made “Supersize Me” is onto something. My health is slipping, but I’ve managed to fight off two colds.) Nevertheless, I’m taking a brief respite from my basement of books to celebrate what I hope will one day be a national holiday – ELECTION DAY!!!!!!

Tuesday is the big day!!!!! Sometimes voter participation slips in a non-presidential election, but I hope the fight over control in Congress will get people to the polls. So this is just a friendly reminder (not that you need it – it just gives me something to say), that Tuesday is election day, so get out there and vote your conscience, and if you can bring your children and make it a big deal for them, you are doing your part to create an active citizen and to preserve our democracy. Studies show that young people who vote at 18 are more likely to continue to vote throughout their lives. People who do not vote at the age of 18 are less like to ever vote. Taking young children to the polls can help make voting fun and show them the importance of voting when they are 18.

I heard that HBO is showing this month an insightful documentary on electronic voting machines called “Hacking Democracy.” Try to catch it if you can. Click here to read more about it.
If, like me, you have been too busy to read up on the candidates, (especially the more local ones), don’t despair, there are some on-line sources that try to make it easier to find out more about the candidates. Here are some that I have found.

Vote411
Vote-smart.org
League of Women Voters

The Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee is trying to encourage women to participate more in the political process through voting and running for office.

If you feel strongly about a particular candidate, but don’t really have time to get involved, just tell everyone you know to go out and vote and tell them why you are choosing to vote for that particular candidate. Studies show that personal contact is the number one influencing factor, when people consider for whom to cast their ballot.

Of course, if you do have time, it is not too late to help. The last few days before an election are a critical time to convince the undecided voter and to get people to the polls. Leaflet dropping or phone banking can be very effective. Some organizations like MoveOn.Org have on-line systems that even allow you to phone bank from your own home. Click here if you are interested in participating.


If you have no idea who to vote for (which I know is unlikely since you are an intelligent person and up on current events) or don’t really care all that much, you can do me a favor and vote for a Democratic Congressional candidate, so that we can restore the vital checks and balances to our national government.

I value education, the environment, healthcare and fair working conditions for all, so I tend to vote for candidates endorsed by teachers’ unions, other unions, and environmental organizations like the Sierra Club. I have listed the endorsements below. Good luck making your very important voting decision and remember to encourage everyone you know to get out there and vote!

New York State United Teachers/United Federation of Teachers Endorsements

GOVERNOR
Eliot Spitzer
LT. GOVERNOR
David Paterson
U.S. SENATE
Hillary Rodham Clinton
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Andrew Cuomo
U.S. CONGRESS
CD 03: Dave Mejias
CD 05: Gary L. Ackerman
CD 06: Gregory Meeks
CD 07: Joseph Crowley
CD 08: Jerrold Nadler
CD 09: Anthony Weiner
CD 10: Edolphus Towns
CD 11: Carl Andrews
CD 12: Nydia Velazquez
CD 13: Steve Harrison
CD 14: Carolyn Maloney
CD 15: Charles Rangel
CD 16: Jose E. Serrano
CD 17: Eliot L. Engel
CD 18: Nita M. Lowey

STATE SENATE
SD 10: Ada L. Smith
SD 11: Frank Padavan
SD 12: George Onorato
SD 13: John Sabini
SD 14: Malcolm A. Smith
SD 15: No Endorsement
SD 16: Toby Ann Stavisky
SD 17: Martin Malave Dilan
SD 18: Velmanette Montgomery
SD 19: John L. Sampson
SD 20: Eric Adams
SD 21: Kevin S. Parker
SD 22: No Endorsement
SD 23: Diane J. Savino
SD 24: No Endorsement
SD 25: Martin Connor
SD 26: Elizabeth Krueger
SD 27: Carl Kruger
SD 28: Jose Serrano
SD 29: Tom K. Duane
SD 30: Bill Perkins
SD 31: Eric T. Schneiderman
SD 32: Ruben Diaz
SD 33: Efrain Gonzalez, Jr.
SD 34: Jeffrey D. Klein
SD 35: Nicholas A. Spano
SD 36: Ruth Hassell-Thompson

STATE ASSEMBLY
AD 22: Ellen Young
AD 23: Audrey Pheffer
AD 24: Mark Weprin
AD 25: Rory Lancman
AD 26: Ann Margaret Carrozza
AD 27: Nettie Mayersohn
AD 28: Andrew Hevesi
AD 29: William Scarborough
AD 30: Margaret Markey
AD 31: Michele Titus
AD 32: Vivian Cook
AD 33: Barbara Clark
AD 34: Ivan Lafayette
AD 35: Jeffrion Aubry
AD 36: Michael Gianaris
AD 37: Catherine Nolan
AD 38: Anthony Seminerio
AD 39: Jose Peralta
AD 40: Diane Gordon
AD 41: Helene Weinstein
AD 42: Rhoda Jacobs
AD 43: Karim Camara
AD 44: James Brennan
AD 45: Steven Cymbrowitz
AD 46: Alec Brook-Krasny
AD 47: William ColtonAD
48: Dov Hikind
AD 49: Peter Abbate, Jr.
AD 50: Joseph Lentol
AD 51: Felix Ortiz
AD 52: Joan Millman
AD 53: No Endorsement
AD 54: Darryl Towns
AD 55: William Boyland, Jr.
AD 56: Annette Robinson
AD 57: Hakeem Jeffries
* AD 58: N. Nick Perry
AD 59: Alan Maisel
AD 60: Janele Hyer-Spencer
AD 61: John Lavelle
AD 62: Vincent Ignizio
AD 63: Michael Cusick
AD 64: Sheldon Silver
AD 65: Alexander B. “Pete” Grannis
AD 66: Deborah Glick
AD 67: Linda Rosenthal
AD 68: Adam Clayton Powell
AD 69: Daniel O’Donnell
AD 70: Keith Wright
AD 71: Herman D. Farrell, Jr.
AD 72: Adriano Espaillat
AD 73: Jonathan Bing
AD 74: Sylvia Friedman
AD 75: Richard Gottfried
AD 76: Peter Rivera
AD 77: Aurelia Greene
AD 78: Jose Rivera
AD 79: Michael Benjamin
AD 80: Naomi Rivera
AD 81: Jeffrey Dinowitz
AD 82: Michael Benedetto
AD 83: Carl E. Heastie
AD 84: Carmen Arroyo
AD 85: Rubin Diaz, Jr.
AD 86: Luis M. Diaz
*NYSUT ENDORSEMENT

Communications Workers Endorsements
Key District 1 Races
Senate Races
New Jersey
Bob Menendez
Rhode Island
Sheldon Whitehouse

Congressional Races
New York

Candidates

David Mejias 3rd District (Long Island)
John Hall 18th (mid-Hudson)
Kirsten Gillibrand 20th (Capitol Region)
Mike Arcuri 24th (Utica Area)
Dan Maffei 25th (Syracuse)
Jack Davis 26th (Western NY)
Eric Massa 29th (Southern Tier)

Connecticut

Joe Courtney 2nd (eastern CT)
Diane Farrell 4th(southwestern CT)
Chris Murphy 5th(central/western CT)

New Hampshire

Paul Hodes 2nd (western NH)

New Jersey

Linda Stender 7th (north-central NJ)


Sierra Club Endorsements

Congressional Voting Records