Let’s Keep Running Member Candidates for Change

By Reggie Jones Sawyer
LA City Asset Manager

Running as an SEIU 721 member for the 47th State Assembly district was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Though we didn’t win, we can all hold our heads up high and be extremely proud of what we accomplished.
 

We put out the message loud and clear that there’s still a lot of work to be done for working families. We made a huge statement that SEIU will stand up for working families, because it’s the right thing to do.
We as a union should continue to cultivate candidates from among our ranks. We have the first hand knowledge of how to make our cities and counties and government at all levels more responsive to the citizens we serve. We know that the best way to improve public services is to partner with the workers who know best how to deliver those services. 
I want to thank everyone who helped me make such a strong showing in a tough race. I was extremely fortunate to have the support of my brothers and sisters in SEIU and LAPMA (Los Angeles Professional Managers’ Association). 
We ran a great campaign. Out of 18 goals we set out for ourselves we met 17. The only goal where we fell short: getting the most votes. I stayed in the race to the end, and won 37.5% of the vote in an outsider campaign against a candidate backed by much of the political establishment.
I owe my SEIU brothers and sisters a debt of gratitude that I’ll be repaying for the rest of my life, through continuing to work for our goals as a union, as workers and as citizens for better public services, accountable government, and a more fair and just society.