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Updated Oct. 17 at 10:57 p.m.

Ten unions have made endorsements so far in the Syracuse mayor race, and all ten support Mayor Ben Walsh. It’s an encouraging sign for his campaign, Walsh said, and shows support for his economic policies which have come under fire from opponents.

Walsh credits the endorsements to his own background as a union member and administrator. 

“I’m a former union member, one of my first jobs was working at a grocery store, and I was a member of UFCW,” said Walsh, who is running as an independent candidate. During college, I was labor with Local 633 and immediately after college I went and worked for the New York State AFL-CIO. Labor has played a big role in my life and in my career. And so to have the support of my brothers and sisters in labor means a lot.”

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Walsh has received endorsements from ten major unions, including locals representing engineers, carpenters, food workers, healthcare workers and painters, among others. The incumbent’s Democratic opponent, Khalid Bey, has not received any endorsements from unions. But that is not a worry going into the last month of the campaign, said Caly Givens, the press secretary for Bey’s campaign.

“It’s not something we’ve talked about as a concern,” Givens said. “We’re going to continue to reach out to the community to share who Khalid is and get the votes that are needed.”

Union endorsements can have a huge impact on campaigns in terms of support, manpower and funding, said union politics expert Laura Bucci, an assistant professor at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Endorsements not only make it more likely that union members will vote for the endorsed candidate, but also bring in money, she said.

“That can be money in terms of a contribution to the campaign itself, or it could be money in terms of not having to hire staff or finding volunteers to do work. And so that can be really beneficial too,” Bucci said.

 Although it is somewhat common for all unions to endorse a single candidate in local races, Bucci said, it usually shows which candidate labor perceives as the front runner and which one they have the most hope for in policy negotiations.

Beyond campaign support, the union support is also an endorsement for Walsh’s economic and development policies like Syracuse Surge and Syracuse Build’s Pathways to Apprenticeship program, Walsh said.

“Those are programs that we developed in partnership with the trades,” Walsh said. “So that supports my assertion that our partnership with labor is helping fuel Syracuse Surge.”

Economic development is one of Walsh’s main focuses for his reelection campaign, something that goes hand-in-hand with labor support, he said.

“Oftentimes when people are looking at traditional economic development, they assume that it’s at odds with the interests of labor, but I couldn’t disagree with that more,” Walsh said. “The only way we are going to truly grow in an inclusive way in our community is by making sure that labor has a seat at the table and that the jobs that we are incentivizing and creating here are good-paying, living-wage jobs.”

Unions generally endorse Democrats, said Bucci, but the support comes as no surprise to the city’s first independent mayor in Walsh, who was endorsed by a number of unions in his first run for mayor in 2017.

“Four years ago, when I made my pitch to labor, I think there was a certain level of wariness around the fact that I was an independent,” he said. “When my friends in labor have called, I’ve always tried to answer, and I think that the fact that they’re supporting me now shows that I’ve delivered on those promises.”

Outside of unions, endorsements have been more equitable between the two campaigns.

Bey has gathered endorsements from five of his colleagues on the Common Council, while council president Helen Hudson, a Democrat, endorsed Walsh. Bey is also expecting endorsements this week from local New York Assembly members Bill Magnarelli and Pam Hunter, Givens said.

Published on October 6, 2021 at 12:25 am

Contact Nick: [email protected] | @NickRobertsonSU