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San Diego Building Trades Unions Win Big on Election Night!

The unions of the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council achieved many exciting and hard fought wins for working families and our communities.

The San Diego Building & Construction Trades Council won nearly 70% of its endorsed races.

“Our endorsed candidates strongly support working families, local hire, job creation, and real investments in our communities. As workers and families do better, our communities prosper. We are proud of our outstanding election victories,” said Tom Lemmon, Business Manager of the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council.

Priority campaign wins for Building Trades include:

  • Mara Elliot for San Diego City Attorney
  • Barbara Bry for San Diego City Council, District 1
  • Steve Padilla for Chula Vista City Council
  • Kevin Pike for Sweetwater Union High School District
  • No on Measure A
  • Yes on Measures K&L
  • Yes on Measure Z
  • Yes on Prop 51 
  • No on Prop 53 
  • Yes on Prop 55 

Hundreds of members belonging to the affiliated unions of the Building Trades Council clocked thousands of volunteer hours and logged hundreds of miles to elect progressive candidates who will work to ensure every employee has access to a fair wage, healthcare, and retirement benefits so that he or she can support a family.

The defeat of Measure A was a perfect example of a lack of vision and forethought on behalf of SANDAG and the Associated General Contractors (AGC) to be inclusive and create career opportunities for San Diegans.  Tom Lemmon added, “if you’re going to propose big infrastructure projects, you need to ensure our workforce and community stakeholders are at the table. We couldn’t support a measure that increases pollution in our communities, doesn’t reduce carbon emissions, and doesn’t guarantee good local jobs. The Building Trades will help forge a path forward toward investing in efficient, responsible transit and community solutions.”

Regarding Measure C and building a new stadium and expanded convention center, “the Building Trades is committed to continuing to work with the Chargers and the City to keep the Chargers in San Diego and create good-paying jobs for local residents,” said Tom Lemmon.

“Approximately 620,000 ballots remain to be counted, and we’re confident that our wins will increase as votes are tabulated over the next few days,” added Lemmon.

Carol Kim, the Political Director for the Building Trades Council said, “The Building Trades Unions congratulate Mara Elliott and Councilmember Barbara Bry and all of our endorsed candidates who will ensure that San Diego continues to advocate for working families.  We also offer our sincere gratitude and congratulations to our community partners – the Alliance San Diego Mobilization Fund, IVP, and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council – in passing Measures K and L – the ballot initiatives that strengthen local democracy and civic engagement. Together, we conducted an expansive grassroots outreach effort that resulted in more community voices going to the ballot box in support of working families.”

Other campaign wins for Building Trades include, but are not limited to:

  • Kamala Harris for U.S. Senate
  • Juan Vargas for the 51st Congressional District
  • Scott Peters for the 52nd Congressional District
  • Toni Atkins for the 39th State Senate District
  • Todd Gloria for the 78th Assembly District
  • Shirley Weber Ph.D. for the 79th Assembly District
  • Lorena Gonzalez for the 80th Assembly District
  • Rick Shea for San Diego County Board of Education, District 5
  • Georgette Gomez for San Diego City Council, District 9
  • Mary Graham for San Diego Community College, District D
  • John Lee Evans for San Diego Unified School District, District A
  • Richard Barrera for San Diego Unified School District, District D
  • Roberto Alcantar for Southwestern College
  • Cori Schumacher for Carlsbad City Council
  • Olga Diaz for Escondido City Council
  • Mark West for Imperial Beach City Council
  • Alejandra Sotelo-Solis for National City City Council