Key Races
JOURNAL: ISSUE 3 - 2016
Paid for by International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Political Action Committee (BACPAC), 620 F St., NW, Washington, DC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
CALIFORNIA
U.S. SENATE:
Kamala Harris (D) 
Loretta Sanchez (R)
California voters made history in the race for the U.S. Senate, sending two Democrats to a November runoff and denying a Republican a spot on the fall ballot for the first time since the state's first direct election of senators in 1914. State Attorney General Kamala Harris, who won the largest share of the vote in the primary, served seven years as the San Francisco's District Attorney before being elected Attorney General in 2010. Harris supports proposals to create an infrastructure bank to repair and expand our transportation, water and technology infrastructure. She also believes in protecting workers' rights, strengthening and enforcing workplace protections, stopping wage theft, strengthening Social Security, providing veterans benefits and career skills, and raising the minimum wage.
COLORADO
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 6:
Morgan Carroll (D)
Mike Coffman (R)
Democratic state Senator Morgan Carroll will challenge Republican incumbent Mike Coffman in Colorado's 6th Congressional District. As a state legislator for more than a decade, Morgan Carroll has worked to protect good-paying jobs, the environment, affordable higher education, affordable healthcare, and a secure retirement for all workers. The Colorado AFL-CIO praised her legislative efforts to raise Colorado's minimum wage, improve equal pay for women, and ensure workplace safety.
FLORIDA
U.S. SENATE:
Patrick Murphy (D)
Marco Rubio (R)
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is running against Republican incumbent and former 2016 presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio. Murphy has a proven record of fighting to protect workers' rights, fighting for their hard-earned, high-quality union health benefits, protecting Social Security and Medicaid, and fighting to raise the minimum wage. As Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Marco Rubio voted against working families 100 percent of the time.
ILLINOIS
U.S. SENATE:
Tammy Duckworth (D)
Mark Kirk (R)
The Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth is challenging Republican Senator Mark Kirk in the November general election. An Iraq War veteran, former Army helicopter pilot, and Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, Duckworth is a true champion for our working families and veterans. She supports infrastructure investment and favors targeted, short-term tax incentives for small- and mid-sized businesses that create new jobs. She also strongly opposes any effort to diminish the Social Security's guaranteed benefits.
U.S. HOUSE:
Bradley Schneider (D)
Robert Dold (R)
Former U.S. Rep. Bradley Schneider is challenging the Republican incumbent Robert Dold who is seeking re-election to his second term in office. Schneider has a record of leading on key issues important to working families such as expanding workers' rights, raising the minimum wage, and passing comprehensive immigration reform. Schneider also defends women's rights and LGBT equality.
INDIANA
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 9:
Shelli Yoder (D)
Trey Hollingsworth (R)
The Indiana University faculty member and Monroe County Council member Shelli Yoder will face Republican candidate Trey Hollingsworth this November. Yoder supports infrastructure investment and good-paying construction jobs.
MICHIGAN
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 7:
Gretchen Driskell (D)
Tim Walberg (R)
The first female mayor of Saline and Democratic member of Michigan House of Representatives Gretchen Driskell is challenging the Republican incumbent Tim Walberg in the November election. Driskell is a strong advocate for working families, small businesses, higher education and the environment. Her job plan focuses on investing in efficient, commerce-friendly infrastructure, training and educating a skilled workforce, creating and protecting equality of opportunity, and building quality schools, parks and housing.
MISSOURI
GOVERNOR:
Chris Koster (D)
Eric Greitens (R)
The current Democratic Attorney General of Missouri Chris Koster will face the Republican candidate Eric Greitens. As Attorney General, Koster has been on the forefront in the fight to protect workers. He has repeatedly and loudly spoken out against the so-called Right-to-Work (RTW) legislation and continues to lead the charge against efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights. Greitens wants to remove collective bargaining from Missouri through RTW legislation. Koster has prosecuted more prevailing wage violations than anyone else in Missouri and has long supported Project Labor Agreements. Greitens wants to end collective bargaining in Missouri and believes PLAs have no value.
NEVADA
U.S. SENATE:
Catherine Cortez Masto (D)
Joe Heck (R)
Former Attorney General of Nevada Catherine Cortez Masto will face Republican member of U.S. House of Representative Joe Heck in the November election. Masto supports the labor movement in raising the minimum wage, ensuring equal pay, protecting Medicare and Social Security, and opposing the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
U.S. SENATE:
Maggie Hassan (D)
Kelly Ayotte (R)
New Hampshire Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan will face the Republican incumbent Senator Kelly Ayotte who is running for re-election to her second term. As Governor, Hassan passed a bill extending health coverage to over 45,000 hard-working Granite Staters and worked to begin fixing highways, roads and bridges. She also froze in-state tuition at New Hampshire universities for the first time in 25 years and reduced tuitions at community colleges.
NEW JERSEY
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 5 :
Josh Gottheimer (D)
Scott Garrett (R)
The Democratic candidate Josh Gottheimer is challenging the Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett who has held this seat since 2002 and won the last election in 2014. Gottheimer supports repatriating companies' offshore profits through taxes to fix New Jersey's crumbling infrastructure. Garrett opposed building the ARC Tunnel and the Gateway Tunnel and voted against a bipartisan transportation and infrastructure bill that saved New Jersey transit from severe budget cuts, provided safety enhancement to Amtrak, and made critical investments in fixing our infrastructure.
NEW YORK
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 21:
Mike Derrick (D)
Elise Stefanik (R)
The Democratic candidate and retired U.S. Army Colonel Mike Derrick is challenging the Republican incumbent Elise Stefanik who is seeking re-election to her second term. Stefanik cosponsored legislation allowing employers to voluntarily engage in workplace safety programs. Derrick proposes a range of renewable energy, renovated infrastructure and ecotourism projects that will create economically sustainable jobs. Derrick also strongly opposes Trans-Pacific Partnership saying he is against "the unfair trade that gives priority to the bottom lines of corporations instead of those hard-working Americans who make the corporations work."
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 24:
Colleen Deacon (D)
John Katko (R)
The Democratic candidate Colleen Deacon is challenging the Republican incumbent John Katko who is seeking re-election to his second term. A Syracuse native, Deacon has dedicated her career to helping central New York families and improving her community. She paid her own way through college at Syracuse University through waitressing and grocery store clerk jobs and student loans. A working single mom, she understands the importance of issues for working families like paid family leave, Medicaid, and Social Security. Deacon is also opposed to Trans-Pacific Partnership that "would have devastating effects on the hard working families not only in Central New York but across this country."
OHIO
U.S. SENATE:
Ted Strickland (D)
Rob Portman (R)
Former Governor Ted Strickland is challenging the Republican incumbent Rob Portman who is seeking re-election to his second term. Strickland has been a champion of working people throughout his career in Congress and as Governor. He created and saved jobs that can't be outsourced in the infrastructure industry, and expanded unemployment compensation eligibility so that out-of-work Ohioans enrolled in education and job training programs can continue to receive benefits. In Congress, Strickland voted against unfair trade deals like NAFTA. His Ohio Families First proposals include rebuilding America's infrastructure and creating more good-paying jobs for Ohioans through the creation of a national infrastructure bank. Strickland strongly supports collective bargaining in the workplace, raising the minimum wage, protecting overtime wages, and opposes bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
PENNSYLVANIA
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 8:
Steve Santarsiero (D)
Brian Fitzpatrick (R)
The Democratic Pennsylvania House Representative Steve Santarsiero is running against Republican candidate Brian Fitzpatrick in the general election. Elected since 2008, Santarsiero has stood up for working families, fought for good paying jobs, and proven that he is the pro-labor candidate for the race for Congress. As State Representative, Santarsiero has secured grants for local construction projects and made sure they were performed under the Project Labor Agreements.
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 16:
Christina Hartman (D)
Lloyd Smucker (R)
The Democratic candidate Christina Hartman is facing former Pennsylvania State Republican Senator Lloyd Smucker in the general election. Rebuilding infrastructure and increasing funding for infrastructure repair is one of Hartman's top priorities. BAC Local 5 Pennsylvania has endorsed Hartman for Congress because she "has proven herself a true defender of the health, pensions, and overall welfare of our hard-working members across Pennsylvania." On the contrary, as the State Senator, Smucker introduced the so-called Right-to-Work legislation (S.B.1073) in 2013.
WISCONSIN
U.S. SENATE:
Russ Feingold (D)
Ron Johnson (R)
Former Democratic member of the U.S. Senate Russ Feingold is running against the Republican incumbent Ron Johnson who is seeking re-election to his second term. Feingold says he will oppose "lousy unfair labor deals" and vote against the Trans-Pacific Partnership if elected. When serving as Senator previously, Feingold voted for the $814 billion economic stimulus measure in 2009, he also voted YES on extending unemployment benefits from 39 weeks to 59 weeks, back when the recession was at its worst and BAC members were struggling to make ends meet.
U.S. HOUSE
DISTRICT 2:
Mark Pocan (D)
Peter Theron (R)
Two-term Congressman Mark Pocan is running against Republican Peter Theron. Pocan is a union member and the owner of a union print shop in Madison, Wisconsin. As Congressman, Mr. Pocan has championed issues important to union families, including investing in job creation, supporting the benefits promised to our veterans, and workplace safety and health. Congressman Pocan has been outspoken in his support of OSHA's new Silica Standard; standing with BAC members including Local 8 WI member Tim Brown to push for safer and healthier work environments through the new standard.