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By Charles Loiacono How to Put a Candidate Over the Top
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Using organization support to have the greatest impact in a political campaign depends on several factors:
We are always up to speed concerning the first four factors. It is the last one that often determines the extent of our effectiveness. So, in strategizing our role in the recent election, we kept our eye on the pendulum—the political pendulum that is. It was moving and moving fast. In that movement, we saw a chance to have a decisive effect on the election results and elect candidates that would make a differ- ence for the county and the AFA. It was apparent that Tom Suozzi’s zeal to reach higher office had reached diminishing returns and had affected his ability to govern. His career was fizzling and the race was tightening. The wall of enemies he had built stood ready to bring him down. Ed Mangano had been a friend of the AFA and an effective legislator whose time had come. So we targeted that race and supported Mangano. Since this was a county-wide race, we were able to use our demographic strength which spreads throughout the county in every Nassau County school district. That strength coupled with the fact that Suozzi did not get one endorsement from a coalition union reduced Suozzi’s incumbency advantage and leveled the playing field. The closeness of the race put us in the position to put |
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Mangano over the top. The count was Mangano by 386 votes with a judge deciding on 328 contested votes. One look at those numbers confirms in no uncertain way that our 3,200 members and their families helped turn the trick for Ed Mangano. Kudos goes to the Detectives Association and the Superior Officers Association. They also played a crucial part in supporting Mangano The race in the 14th District was a decisive one. So, we strategized meticulously. Joe Belesi had lost to Dave Mejias by 200 votes two years ago. With most incumbents secure, the 14th seemed to be the only district where organizational support could put a candidate over the top. When we analyzed our membership strength in the 14th, we discovered that we had about 200 members living in that district. We also knew that these were long time members whose children were of voting age. I wrote personally to each AFA member in that district and elicited their support for Belesi. We modestly assume 4 votes for each household of an AFA member. Belesi won by 174 votes. There can be no doubt that the AFA provided the winning margin that put Belesi over the top. Again kudos goes to the Detectives Association and Superior Officers Association. They were on the job in the 14th. For our part, our members always put aside their personal political philosophy and vote for the candidate the union endorses. When it comes to the union, we are one. That oneness gives us the organizational clout to make a winning difference. And once again, we predicted the outcome before the election
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