Standing at the microphone with other labor leaders, PSC President James Davis looked over the crowd of hundreds of union members gathered in White Plains, about 10 miles north of New York City. It was a crisp, fall morning on October 17–the members, sporting their union colors, were from the PSC, Hotel Trades Council, UFT, 32BJ, CWA and New York State United Teachers, the PSC’s state affiliate. They were gathered to campaign at union households for Democrat Cait Conley, who is attempting to unseat Republican incumbent US Rep. Mike Lawler.
“This looks like union power,” Davis said, prompting a roar of cheer from the members. “The very balance of Congress may be in our hands.”
PSC members Jeff Ballerini (left) and Mobina Hashmi campaign for Cait Conley in Ossining, NY (Photo: Ari Paul)
He wasn’t exaggerating. The first two years of Donald Trump’s second presidency have been a disaster for the public sector, the labor movement, immigrants and the working class generally. The midterm elections this November present a chance to flip Congress away from the Republicans and install a dose of sanity back into the federal government. A majority of Americans expect the Democrats to retake the House of Representatives, according to Pew Research and most polls show the Democrats will make substantial gains. Polls also show that the Conley-versus-Lawler race is highly competitive.
This canvassing effort wasn’t just about this district, but about a national effort to fight the far right. Conley told the crowd. “It’s about our country,” she said. “It’s about our future.” She added of her opponent, “He has voted for Trump’s agenda 100% of the time. And for that he deserves to be fired.”
Conley, a combat veteran, said she had looked on in horror at what the Republican majority in Congress and Trump have done to working class communities across the country. “This is not the America I fought for,” she said. “We gotta fix it.”
From there, more than 20 PSC members who had come up to White Plains that morning took off to visit the homes of union members in the district, which covers Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess and Putnam counties. “She’s an ally of unions,” said Justyna Jagielnicka, a college counselor and academic support specialist at Borough of Manhattan Community College. “We can flip this district blue. It’s very important for me to be a part of history.”
Conley’s campaign is an obvious focus for PSC. It’s a flippable district, giving PSC members a chance to help move the national congressional power balance away from the Republicans and Trump. The district is commuting distance from many CUNY campuses–the union represents about 700 workers living there, union sources said. And she’s an obvious choice for NYSUT: According her website, when it comes to education Conley supports, “Increasing access to affordable childcare” and “Expanding our [Board of Cooperative Educational Services], Career & Technical Education (CTE), and Community College programming” while also “opposing voucher programs that strip funding from our public education system, fully funding lunch programs for all students who qualify, and increasing funding for early childhood education programs like Head Start.”
In fact, NYSUT members canvassing for Conley wore shirts that said “Edu-Cait.”
By contrast, Lawler has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administration’s crackdown on academic freedom and freedom of speech on college campuses. Lawler’s 2025 voting scorecard from the AFL-CIO was a dismal 8%.
Mobina Hashmi, co-chair of the Brooklyn College PSC chapter, and Jeff Ballerini, an academic advisor at Queensborough Community College, had success canvassing in nearby Ossining. They encountered one woman, whose husband was a member of IATSE Local 52, who said she would vote for Conley. “I don’t want anyone who supports Trump,” she said. When Ballerini told her about the other Democrats running in state level races, she said of her ballot, “It will be all D-D-D.”
At a nearby NYSUT household, when Hashmi and Ballerini spoke about the need to vote for Conley, a man responded, “Anyone but Lawler.” At a nearby apartment building, a security officer wouldn’t let Hashmi and Ballerini walk up to another NYSUT member’s door but agreed to call the member on their behalf. The security officer told Hashmi and Ballerini that the member said she would enthusiastically vote for Conley. The security officer, for her part, was also supportive of Conley.
The union is organizing for other candidates in swing districts, such as Democrat Mike DeCillis (NY-11), who is looking to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis in Staten Island and southern Brooklyn. The PSC is enthusiastically backing devoted allies in national congressional races, like Assemblymember Claire Valdez (NY-7) former city Comptroller Brad Lander (NY-10), and Darializa Avila Chevalier (NY-13), although they are expected to easily win their contests in safe blue districts.
Speaking to Clarion, PSC First Vice President Jen Gaboury noted that a Democratic congress could pass pro-union legislation like the PRO Act and the Protect America’s Workforce Act, the latter aiming to restore federal worker collective bargaining rights. Passage of these bills would likely lead to a veto, but a veto would put union issues at the center of the news cycle and the national political discussion, she said. Winning even just the House would be advantageous to higher education workers and the labor movement generally, she added. Democrats could hold hearings on the Trump administration’s evisceration of federal agencies, Gaboury said, and given that many of the attacks on higher education have come from House committees, a Democratic takeover would stymie that effort.
Early voting begins Saturday, October 24 and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd. The union’s list of its endorsed candidates also includes Chris McCreight for Assembly District 46 in Brooklyn and Governor Hochul. A vote for Hochul on the Working Families Party ballot line will mean a prominent place on the ballot for the party in the next election. It will also help hold the governor accountable to progressive voters. The WFP needs 250,000 votes for governor on its line to stay on the ballot; 350,000 votes would put it above of the Conservative Party on the ballot.
John Gallagher–director for technology, admin organization and business effectiveness at Borough of Manhattan Community College–joined the labor canvassing event for Conley and said being a part of the effort was of the utmost importance.
“We are at a time where higher education is under attack on multiple fronts and Congress is standing by and watching it happen,” he said. “We need people in office who will take their responsibilities seriously instead of watching our children’s future get destroyed.”
To sign up for phone banks and door knocking and to register yourself as on-call for critical election protection actions, fill out the Elections 2026: Make It Count form. We may need every PSC member in the streets to demand accurate vote counts and defend the integrity of the midterm elections.
