No Voter Turnout In Three SAG-AFTRA Local Elections

It’s election season again at SAG-AFTRA, and the results of three local elections are already in, with dozens of candidates running unopposed and being “declared elected without the necessity of a membership vote.” More than 30 candidates in the Michigan, Twin Cities and Missouri Valley locals – including their presidents, vice presidents, board members and convention delegates – have been elected without a single vote being cast because nobody was running against them.

The union has 25 locals, and most will see contested elections, though many will not. In the Miami local, for instance, three candidates are running for local president. In Hawaii, the president, VP, secretary and local board members are running unopposed, but an election will be held among the six candidates vying for five slots as convention delegates.

In the previous election cycle two years ago, members in Colorado, New Mexico, the Twin Cities, Hawaii, the Missouri Valley and Arizona-Utah never got to cast a ballot because candidates there ran unopposed.

Several candidates have announced plans to run for national office, including Esai Morales and Peter Antico, who are running for president. Gabrielle Carteris, who was appointed president after the death of incumbent Ken Howard last year, is expected to seek another term, though she hasn’t announced yet. Jane Austin, the guild’s national secretary-treasurer, said she’s seeking re-election as Morales’ running mate on the Membership First slate.

Here are some local elections results:

In Michigan, Eric Wydra was re-elected local president, Jo-Jo Shutty-MacGregor first vice president, Phil Elam second vice president and Shane Carson secretary. In the Missouri Valley, Thomas G. Murray was reelected president, Rodger A. Brand national board members, and Andrew Zimmerman and Ronald L. Elz as vice presidents. In the Twin Cities, Peter Moore, the local’s former first vice president, was elected president; Randal Berger was elected to the national board, and Barry ZeVan and Shelli Place were elected vice presidents.