From the desk of TSEA Executive Director Randy Stamps
There is less than one week remaining to vote during Early Voting. The final day of Early Voting is Thursday, October 29. If you cannot vote during early voting, you can vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3.
One of the most important things you can do to protect your rights and benefits as a state employee is to vote and vote for candidates who support state employees.
Our political action committee, TEAM-PAC, which consists of active and retired state and higher ed employees, endorses candidates based on recommendations from state employee members at the chapter level. Our endorsement recommendations come from previous interviews between TSEA state employee members and the candidate or a candidate’s voting record supporting state employee issues.
I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of supporting our endorsed candidates.
Most of us identify with a political party. We all have opinions about who should be our president. But, on November 3, what matters most to TSEA and TEAM PAC is who governs in NASHVILLE.
The women and men who hold office at the State Capitol in Nashville have a greater impact on state employees’ day-to-day lives than anyone in Washington D.C. While the media attention will be on federal elections, we must be disciplined enough to support our endorsed candidates. Yes, our national elections are important, and I encourage you to vote in those races, but please also focus on our Tennessee State Senate and State House races.
There may be times where we encourage you to cross-ticket vote, which means our endorsed candidate represents a different party than yours. There is a reason for these recommendations. Rest assured, we do not hand out our TEAM PAC endorsements lightly. Every candidate TEAM PAC endorses has a record of supporting state employees, but also, an endorsement could mean that a particular candidate sponsors an important piece of legislation or chairs an important committee. Whatever the reason, you can rest easy knowing that if we endorse and encourage you to vote for a candidate, it is ultimately to the benefit of state employees.
State employees have repeatedly made a difference at the voting booth for both the TN State Senate and State House. Soon to be State Senator Page Walley will tell you we made a significant difference in his August primary race.
Thank you for being a member of TSEA and for your service to our great state. And thank you for the honor of serving as your executive director.
Important Links:
You can view the complete list of our TEAM PAC endorsed candidates here: teampac.org/endorsements.
If you don’t know your State Senate or State House District, visit this link to enter your home address for this information:
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/Apps/fmlv3/districts.aspx (click “find my legislator” and enter your address. It will show the incumbents for your area, and under their names you will see the Districts for your address).
You can access your local election commission by visiting this link:
http://tnsos.org/elections/election_commissions.php (once at the webpage, simply click on your county).
For other important election information, visit the Secretary of State’s website at https://sos.tn.gov/ or visit http://govotetn.com.