Peter Murphy Wins in Council Runoff!

SEIU's endorsed candidate in Chattanooga's 9th council district, Peter Murphy, won convincingly in his runoff election on April 14. 

The Chattanooga Times Free Press had this to say about Peter's unlikely win:

Mr. Murphy’s victory could be considered a mild surprise... J.T. McDaniel, a small businessman well known in the majority African-American district, would have been favored by many observers over Mr. Murphy, a white attorney, simply on the racial composition of the district... Mr. Murphy’s energetic shoe-leather campaigning and his broader, more compelling agenda rightly proved more appealing, however.

"This was a tough race, but Peter is a good candidate and voters realized that," said Jeff Berntsen, SEIU organizer.  "Our members had a role to play in this election, too.  They spent a lot of time helping Peter out with phone calls and a lot of door-to-door canvassing.  All the things you have to do to win local elections, we did."

"City employees have had a rough few years under the last city council, but thanks to the hard work my union brothers and sisters have done on the ground here, we are confident that the new council is going to be more friendly to city employees and to all the working people of Chattanooga," says Sharon Blanks, the union's chief steward.  "We look forward to working with our new allies and the Mayor's office on making sure that city employees have a strong agreement, are compensated fairly for their hard work, and are treated with the dignity and respect that all working people deserve."

The newly-elected councilmembers will be sworn into office on April 20.