On election night 2000, one GCIU local president proved that he could make the state of Rhode Island a little more friendly to working citizens: he ran for office as a state senator – and won.

Providence Local 239M Pres. John J. Tassoni Jr., a political novice who decided to take on a 22-year incumbent, won the tally on Nov. 7 and then easily survived a recount called for by his Republican opponent.

Photo by Dennis B. Doris, Jr.

Successful Rhode Island state Senate candidate John J. Tassoni Jr.

"It was certainly an exciting election night, but I was not surprised by the outcome," Tassoni said. "I walked the whole district during the campaign speaking to residents and we sent out four mailings. The week before the election, I knocked on doors and visited as many potential voters as I could," he added.

Tassoni's victory over Republican Mike Flynn was one of the high points for Democrats in the state. And newspaper articles noted that Flynn's defeat was a major disappointment to the GOP.

Fittingly enough, Tassoni and Washington state senatorial candidate Thomas G. Beattie, president of Olympia 182C, were co-chairs of the Political Action Workshop during the September GCIU Fifth Quadrennial Convention.

Beattie was unsuccessful in his run for the state Senate. But he is mulling getting "an early start" in a run for the state Assembly in 2002.

The two GCIU candidates at both ends of the U.S. were in keeping with a campaign by organized labor to get more union members into public office. AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney is trying to convince union members to run for office so they can better represent working families and take back government from lawmakers influenced by corporate interests.