POLITICAL RECAP
Firefighters Find Election Success in a Year Like No Other
In a year where the headlines were filled with disaster and a contentions national election, local and state elections seemed to be almost forgotten. For firefighters and their families, however, these elections were critically important, and CPF and its locals didn’t forget. The result were signature victories in a year where the nature of campaigning itself changed dramatically.
State elections
Though there were no statewide candidate races in 2020, there were legislative races in all 80 Assembly districts and 20 Senate districts as well as some high-profile ballot measures. As they have in past years, CPF-endorsed candidates for the Legislature won big … really big In fact, every one of the candidates that CPF endorsed for the Assembly and Senate won their elections. Among those victories was the success of a former firefighter — Kelly Seyarto, a Riverside County Republican who served with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. (Interview, page 9).
CPF’s top priority in statewide ballot propositions in 2020 — Proposition 19 — won a narrow but important victory. Prop. 19 expanded property-tax relief for seniors, veterans and wildfire victims, but it provided a potentially dramatic lift for the fire service. The measure will ensure that property tax windfalls that may result from expanded real estate sales will benefit fire districts that were short-changed by Proposition 13.
Local elections
Firefighter candidates and causes also found favor in dozens of local elections around the state. This past November, CPF provided support in nearly 100 local candidate contests — consulting, training, media services and support. Two-thirds of those candidates were successful. Even more impressively, CPF local affiliates won eight out of ten local tax measures or infrastructure bonds that they endorsed. — an amazing 80% success rate at the height of the pandemic-induced economic crisis.
As they have in the past, firefighters proved effective candidates for local races, and CPF provided support for all of them. Stanislaus Consolidated firefighter Buck Condit was elected to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors (see story, page 16). Oakland firefighter Zach Hilton was elected to the Gilroy City Council, and Vista firefighter David Kennedy will serve on the North County Fire Protection District.
Media services
A key component of successful campaigns is in the strength of media services, and CPF provided unmatched support for its affiliates.
CPF’s high-quality union printshop, Firefighters Print & Design, produced more than 2.3 million pieces of mail on behalf of CPF affiliate candidates and causes — more than double its total in the previous election. It also turned out campaign signs, door hangers and sleek, well-designed campaign websites.
Firestar Studios, the in-house video production facility, produced numerous videos and campaign spots for CPF and locally-backed candidates and causes, many of which were seen as keys to the candidates’ success.
In addition to their work for CPF’s own candidates, Firefighters Print & Design and Firestar Studios worked with more than a dozen local consultants and candidates, winning nearly two-thirds of those campaigns as well.