BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - After completing a successful five-week
petitioning drive, supporters of Sam Manuel, the Socialist
Workers Party candidate for mayor of Washington, D.C., filed
3,709 signatures August 25 - nearly 25 percent above the
requirement - to qualify for ballot status in the November 3
election. "My campaign supporters and I were proud to join
others in picketing the White House as soon as we learned about
Clinton's missile strikes against Sudan and Afghanistan,"
stated Manuel.
"I am a freight conductor on Conrail and a member of the United Transportation Union," he said in a statement released to the media the day the petitions were filed. "I supported my co-workers - the track workers - who shut down the railroad for 10 hours last week to protest company contract violations and sent a message to Conrail's new owners that they cannot walk all over us.... My campaign will stand with all city workers fighting for better contracts. And I will continue to stand with the Black farmers in their historic fight against government discrimination and to regain their land." Also filing for a spot on the ballot is Mary Martin, SWP candidate for D.C. delegate to the House of Representatives. Martin is a member of the International Association of Machinists and works on the ramp for Northwest Airlines at Washington's Reagan- National Airport. She submitted petitions with 3,623 signatures. The SWP is also running Olympia Newton, a student at George Washington University and organizer of the D.C. chapter of the Young Socialists, for City Council at-large, and Brian Williams, a member of the United Steelworkers of America, for City Council Chairman.
In mid-August, Manuel spoke to some 130 people at a mayoral forum sponsored by the National Conference of Black Lawyers. He also participated in a mayoral debate hosted by the Latino Civil Rights Center and at a tenant's association meeting at a giant high rise apartment building in Anacostia.
Brian Williams is a member of the United Steelworkers of America local 2609.