Sandy Jones
Democratic Land Commissioner candidate Sandy Jones announced earlier this week that he had been endorsed by three local AFSCME units in New Mexico, but the union’s state council, whose political committee has endorsed Jones’ opponent Ray Powell, says there’s no such thing as an endorsement from a local unit.
The Jones campaign claimed the endorsements of AFSCME locals 2777, 477 and 2890, representing about 2,000 members, earlier this week.
But a statement from AFSCME Council 18, which represents New Mexico, says that while union members “are always entitled to support whatever candidate they choose as individuals, individuals do not and cannot make an ‘AFSCME’ endorsement in a statewide race, and AFSCME Council 18 and all of its locals proudly stand 100 percent behind the endorsement of Ray Powell for Land Commissioner.”
Ray Powell
“There is only one AFSCME endorsement process and one AFSCME endorsement in statewide races, and that includes all locals,” Council President Andrew Padilla said in the statement. “The resolution governing all AFSCME endorsements in New Mexico clearly states that ‘the PEOPLE by-laws constitute the official endorsement process for the Council, and all locals, for the state of New Mexico.’”
Arcy Baca, the president of Local 477, disputes that. Baca said AFSCME’s PEOPLE political action committee doesn’t represent most of the people in his local unit – because they choose not to pay to belong to the PAC.
“A local can endorse a candidate of their choice, as the northern locals have done,” said Baca, who works at the Public Regulation Commission, where Jones is currently an elected commissioner.