One candidate who survived the nationwide Republican tide in November was Bob South, a UE member at Fairbanks Scales and president of Local 234. South first ran for a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives in 2006, falling short of victory, but won the election in 2008. This year the Republican Party spent heavily in its effort to oust this working-class Democrat, but South was reelected.
“I think that face-to-face contact with my constituents was really what helped me pull out a victory,” says South. “These are the same basic organizing tactics we use in UE.”
In South’s case, the application of UE organizing techniques meant knocking on 1,963 doors of his constituents. This is what enabled him to overcome a more than 3-to-1 financial advantage for his opponents.
“I ran my entire campaign on less than $6,000,” says South, while the Vermont Republican Party alone poured at least $20,000 into his district. In addition, another group opposing South because of his vote in favor of Vermont’s Marriage Equality Act spent money trying to defeat him. “My donations came from individuals – I didn’t get any money from big companies.”
Of his grass-roots face-to-face campaign, Bob says, “It took a lot of extra time away from home to be able to do that. To knock on 1,963 doors while still holding down a full-time position and being a union officer, you really have to budget your time. My family has been great to give me that time and flexibility and understanding to be gone as much as I was over the summer and fall.”
Even though South was reelected, and Democrats in Vermont retained the state house and senate and won the governorship, the national Republican trend had its effect. A few weeks before the election, Bob could sense that the race was very tight.“Democrats did not come out and vote in sufficient numbers,” says South. He can see that because he ended up with 300 fewer votes than he received in 2008, while the Republicans in the race got approximately the same number of votes that they got two years ago.
Bob South’s district consists of the town of St. Johnsbury, and the district elects two state representatives. So there were two Democrats and two Republicans on the ballot, and the top two vote getters are elected. The other incumbent was a Republican and he received the highest number of votes, South came in next, with 1,109 votes, and the other Republican ended just 22 votes behind Bob. Because of the close outcome there will be a recount on December 7, requested by the third-place candidate..
For his victory, Bob also thanks the hard work of campaign manager Jay Wood. “He keeps me focused. He made sure that I stuck to our campaign plan, how many doors I had to knock on every night, events that I had to be at, drafted all my literature, got it printed, did a wonderful job.” Another major factor was strong support from labor – “first and formost UE,” but also the Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA), Plumbers and Pipefitters, Steelworkers, and Nurses. “These unions all helped energize their members.”
What’s ahead for the coming session of the Vermont legislature? “We have a $112 million hole in the state budget,” says South. “First and foremost is coming up with the money to fill that hole. My goal is to take care of the elderly, take care of kids and take care of those who are less fortunate, with medical conditions and so forth. Human services is not the place to cut.” South also looks forward to working on healthcare. Vermont is taking the lead in moving toward a genuine universal, affordable healthcare plan on the state level, with single payer and two other options to be considered by the legislature in 2011.
South also looks forward to resuming his legislative work on labor issues, including a bill he’s co-sponsoring to allow daycare workers to organize. “That’s a big priority that we’re hoping to get through this coming year,” he says. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”