- SEIU Members' Get Out the Vote Effort Helps Elect Tsongas to Congress in Time for Thursday Vote on Children's Health

"Tonight's win for Niki Tsongas isn't just a victory for voters in Massachusetts, it's a win for working families across the country,"said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.  "Voters in Massachusetts are not only sending a strong health care advocate to Washington, they're doing it just in time for her to cast a vote for a critically needed program."

"It's no coincidence that tonight working people across the country are holding vigils in their communities in support of access to children's health care,"said Burger.  "One candidate in this election, Niki Tsongas, pledged her unequivocal support for the SCHIP program.  The other candidate did not.  With a veto override vote scheduled in Congress for this Thursday, voters tonight have sent a clear message that Congress needs to stop playing politics with children's lives and start making health care a priority."   

SEIU members in Massachusetts engaged in an extensive voter mobilization effort in support of Tsongas.  In addition to knocking on thousands of doors and making thousands of calls in the district, close to one hundred SEIU members volunteered on Election Day.

SEIU has held events around the country, made thousands of calls to Congress and widely advertised the importance of expanding SCHIP.  To educate voters on Tsongas's support for SCHIP funding, SEIU has been running television ads in the Boston market for the past week.

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