The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 70/No. 27           July 24, 2006  
 
 
(front page)
Socialist Workers launch
ballot drive in New York
 
Militant/Arrin Hawkins
Róger Calero (left), SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in New York, campaigns July 11 in Bronx, New York. At right is campaign supporter Carmen Maymi-O’Reilly.

BY ARRIN HAWKINS  
NEW YORK, July 12—After two days on the streets, supporters of the Socialist Workers election campaign here have collected more than 1,600 signatures to put the SWP ticket on the ballot in the state. Their aim is to collect 30,000 signatures, double the state requirement, in a 13-day effort.

The socialists are running Róger Calero for U.S. Senate and Maura DeLuca for New York governor (for the rest of the ticket list in this issue). Calero, 37, was the party’s presidential candidate in 2004. DeLuca, 27, is a garment worker and member of the Young Socialists.

“I talked to a lot of young people who were interested in our campaign,” said Marshall Lambie, 19, a college student who is using his summer off school to petition for the socialist candidates for the first time. “Many see the need to organize unions and use them to fight for broader social struggles like affirmative action and immigrant rights,” he said.

Matilda Hernandez-Miyares, 17, is a high school student and another member of the Young Socialists who was out campaigning July 11 in Harlem. “A number of people walking by the campaign table saw our sign defending a woman’s right to choose abortion and said, ‘I am for that,’ and signed,” she said.

“There is also a good response to demands for government-guaranteed nationalized health care and no cuts to Social Security,” said Carmen Maymi-O’Reilly, another campaign supporter. She petitioned July 11 at the bustling intersection of Fordham Road and Grand Concourse in the Bronx. “Many people see these two demands as a real need for all working people today.”

Socialist campaigners are also petitioning to put the SWP ticket on the ballot in Minnesota, where they have collected nearly 3,000 signatures in a week toward their goal of 4,600. Similar ballot drives will take place in Massachusetts, July 15-30; Pennsylvania, July 22-30; and Iowa July 29-August 13.
 
 
Related articles:
Socialist Workers candidates in Pennsylvania offer
Back Socialist Workers campaigns!
Socialist Workers Party campaign platform for the mid-term elections in November 2006
Initial list of Socialist Worker Party candidates in 2006  
 
 
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