Below are reflections from students who worked on this fall’s political campaigns, and who responded to outreach from SLU staff. We welcome additional input, especially from those who worked for other political parties and campaigns not represented here.
Together, the SLU community is making meaning of election outcomes. An open discussion was held on campus for students, faculty and staff on Monday, November 11, yielding good turnout and a wide-ranging exchange of ideas. Additionally, on the 14th floor a large message board is available as a space for all community members to share their thoughts in a considerate manner. Everyone is encouraged to participate.
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Julia Everson, 23, and Jordan Pecora, 38, are both students in SLU’s Advanced Certificate in Labor Studies program. They both did campaign work for Democratic candidates this fall, supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president plus local candidates for the NY state legislature and U.S. Congress.
The students come from opposite coasts and political backgrounds. Julia grew up in a progressive household just south of San Francisco and got her bachelor’s degree in communications at UC Santa Barbara.
Jordan is from a Republican family in Nassau County – a place where, he says, “to get anything you had to be a Republican” – and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from a small Long Island college, now closed. His party affiliation began to change when he confronted health issues and benefited from the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) by getting to stay on his parents’ insurance and having pre-existing conditions be accepted without penalty.
Jordan has thrown himself into a variety of campaigns since 2018 as a member of the Nassau County Democratic Committee. For Julia, this fall was her first taste of intensive campaign experience. Two weeks ago, Harris’s loss hit both of them hard, but now they are regrouping. As this article was wrapping up, a third student shared her experience as well. Reach out with your story to communications@slu.cuny.edu.
Julia Everson
As an undergrad Julia did a capstone project exploring the social and solidarity economy, which led her adviser to inform her about the SLU program. Now she’s living in New York after only visiting a few times in the past. She’s currently applying to law schools and would like to stay in the city for her next degree.
Julia spent two months organizing groups of 32BJ SEIU members to canvass for Democratic candidates in the Hudson Valley, Long Island, Philadelphia and around Allentown, Pa. She arranged buses and meals for volunteers, corralled members to work the phones and canvass, and called and knocked on doors herself as well. The union held meetings with candidates willing to be screened so 32BJ could decide whom to support; Julia ran the screening of John Avlon, the Democrat who ran for Congress in NY-1. Avlon got the union’s backing but lost to incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican.
Apart from the presidential race, you also worked on campaigns that succeeded. How does that feel?
I am very happy about Proposition 1 passing. I feel like people had misconceptions about it, and on Election Day I feel like I made a tangible difference. I did “visibility” for Prop 1 outside polling locations, asking people if they were aware of it and explaining it and suggesting they vote “yes” to enshrine reproductive rights in the New York State constitution. Most people didn’t know about it, and then said they would vote for it once they heard the explanation!
What explanations resonate with you about why Harris lost?
My initial reaction was that America hates women, but after sitting on it longer I honestly think her affiliation with Joe Biden had her doomed from the start. No matter who the incumbent was, people wanted change.
How can Democrats win back blue-collar and working-class Americans?
By actually making meaningful changes to help them instead of solely giving lip service.
Where are you finding inspiration or motivation?
People are much more motivated to organize. We might actually get viable Working Families Party or Democratic Socialists of America candidates soon.
Jordan Pecora
Jordan is the director of cost recovery at the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation. He recently became a DC37 shop steward and took classes in how to do the job well. That led him to learning about SLU and the fact that his union could cover school fees.
As a regular campaign volunteer for six years now, Jordan performs tasks from door knocking to phone banking to accompanying the candidates themselves, as he did with Democratic Congresswoman-elect Laura Gillen when she greeted voters at transit stations. Gillen flipped the NY-4 district, replacing Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and yielding a victory among Jordan’s efforts.
Compared to past years of campaigning, Jordan said he found that “most people are nice and willing to listen, and the narrative of everyone hating each other is overblown.”
His labor law class taught by Distinguished Lecturer Ellen Dichner is “one of the most eye-opening classes I have ever had,” Jordan said. “I was floored and flabbergasted at how much the labor system worked against unions and workers in general. Now I understand why people are so angry. I can talk to them in a different way and validate them.”
Equally important, he said: “The other major thing I noticed is how many different media sources people get their information from.”
Apart from the presidential race, you also worked on campaigns that succeeded. How does that feel?
It feels good to be on winning campaigns. Winning is contagious. Even when you win, everyone still needs to look into what happened and be able to do a better job. Winning locally was great but seeing what happened on the federal level took away the joy.
Are there lessons to draw from those winning campaigns?
The lessons I would take from the candidates who won is that they were community-based and community-focused. In a closely divided country, nothing matters and everything matters at the same time. In my opinion connecting with your constituents matters, showing up matters, and most of all being genuine and people believing that you are who you say you are, and you mean what you say.
Are there takeaways for your own life and activism?
The takeaway is that losing is not the end of the world. You can dust yourself off and run again or find a second act. In campaigns, you meet and see a lot of different people and those experiences are life changing. It gets you out of the bubble of your own life.
The biggest thing I have learned in life and in campaign seasons is the law of unintended consequences. You never know what might come your way or what will show up.
What explanations resonate with you about why Harris lost?
In this media environment, you need to go everywhere and anywhere to speak.
The biggest divide in this country is not Republican vs. Democrat or Liberal vs. Conservative. It is people who are informed versus people who are not. I would say about 20% of the population is informed, and they have to tell the other 80% what is happening. That means: find out what those other 80% like and dislike, and meet them and talk to them where they are.
What role do you see for unions now?
All unions need to do better political education, to let members know what is at stake and who will help them and benefit them. An example of this is the Teamsters having the Biden administration save their pensions, yet not endorsing Biden. This goes to political education and letting members know who did what for the unions.
How can Democrats win back blue-collar and working-class Americans?
First two things they need to do is show up and listen. When the working class tells you they are hurting, listen to them. Democrats have better policies for the working class, but the Republicans have been better at showcasing the pain of the working class. The Biden administration passed a lot of amazing industrial and pro-union policies that actually benefit the lives of the working class. But these policies were not showcased, and the implementation of these policies will take time to really affect people.
People in all walks of life want to be validated, seen and heard. A lot has been going around about “identity politics are dead and Democrats should never use them again.” In the sense of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion – those identities might not be a good predicator of votes, but what about a working-class identity? With identity politics, I would like to see a reframing toward class, education, and how people view themselves – which is not always based on how they look, but on how they act.
Where are you finding inspiration or motivation?
The presidential election was a bad result but not a wipeout. On the state level, many other races went much better than the presidential level. That gives me hope and inspiration. It gives me inspiration that people will fight back and be ready for the terrible policies that are coming.
Cathleen O’Keefe
Cathleen serves as business agent for IATSE Local 232 in Massachusetts, whose website says, “Since 1912 we have been providing professional stagehands, technicians, and projectionists to the Amherst and Northampton areas.” She is currently taking the Entertainment Law class at SLU.
Before the elections, Cathleen wrote: Our union has been writing postcards for Harris. It’s been a small effort, writing 100 postcards to mostly Georgia women union voters, but each writing experience has been uniquely different. Some were written by strangers on a plane, in a moving car, by a fed-up aunt, during a lunch break for two colleagues and two students, with a crew before dismantling a convention, and finally, by myself on a beautifully warm late October day.
Has your union pivoted to taking new actions, post-elections?
“We will just keep fighting the good fight, contract by contract.
How can Democrats win back blue-collar and working-class Americans?
We have to reevaluate our own biases. We equate the working class with right-wing Republicans. The day after the election, I heard from two working-class white men who were denigrated based on their appearance. Both middle-aged men are tried-and-true Kamala supporters. Both were dressed in the uniform of their trade: one in Carhartt’s work pants and a dusty shirt, who was shopping at his local co-op and was hissed at. The other was a bald man with a freshly shaved head, dressed in all black, which is customary for backstage workers. He was leaving his town hall and his shirt was imprinted with the gold IATSE logo, black and gold being colors that the Proud Boys also use. As he was getting into his car someone cursed at him.
This antagonistic reaction from the liberal elite is part of the reason we lost the election and have alienated working-class men. We have to be more inclusive of the working class, the people who keep our country running on a daily basis.”
With everything on the line in 2025 for those who care about labor, urban affairs, and much more, SLU will be a place where we can work toward solutions together.