New York Election Results

In my last article about New York's Assembly District 38, I said this was an opportunity that would come and go. And that New York bikers would have no effect on the election.

I'm very happy to say that they proved me wrong.

Step by Step

There are several steps that lead to electing a biker-friendly legislator. And each additional election win is another building block of the biker-friendly majority.

But knowing what needs to be done is far different than doing what needs to be done. That takes practice, and we just gained some valuable experience in New York.

The first step is knowing there's a special election coming up. I scan the news all the time, so no problem there. Then I contact the SMRO to let them know about it. But just as often, they already know and tell me.

The next step is finding out where the candidates stand on the helmet law. Though I can do this myself, it's not really my place. As Tip O'Neal famously said, "All politics is local." And this is where New York bikers stepped up.

As I often do, I found the AD-38 candidates' websites to find their email addresses. Then I wrote both of them, asking the plain-vanilla question: "What's your position on the universal helmet law?" One of them wrote me back and said the usual, a non-commital response leaning toward "public safety."

When I replied, I said my usual. I told the candidate that local bikers wanted to serve as campaign volunteers, if only we had a candidate who shared our desire for repeal. In this case, the candidate wanted to meet me.

That's a very good sign. Whenever they do that, they want our help but don't want to go "on the record." Which is fine. We just want results.

Obviously I couldn't drive up to Queens, being down in Richmond for the annual Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists summit. So I emailed our New York subscribers as well as officers of ABATE of NY, asking for help.

And you know what?

NY Bikers Responded

One NY biker called me up and explained how the political machinery works in New York City. And she knew what she was talking about, having worked for elected officials over the past several years. And what she said confirmed my feelings about how important campaign workers would be.

Another NY biker emailed me, saying she could meet with the candidate. And she made several attempts to set the meeting up. Though it never came to pass, keep in mind that the election was just a couple of days away. Campaign organizations are normally overwhelmed with last minute emergencies, so meeting appointments sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Making History

NY bikers also sent me feedback on the race outcome. Which is now history. A new legislator is in Albany, representing Queens, NY.

This election is now in our history book, too. We have a list of Active Elections and Results at B4BS.NET. The active races are shown in blue text if bikers are taking steps to get involved. And there's a mysterious text entry block with a "Go" button below each one. (You'll have to email me to find out what goes into the block.)

Once an election is done, I show the name of the winner. And to demonstrate the power of campaign workers, I also show how many votes they won by, as well as the voter turnout. Sometimes it's a pretty small margin with very few voters overall, so any decent "get out the vote" effort can easily change the outcome.

There's also a color-code for the winner's name. Though you can probably figure it out yourself, again you'll have to email me to find out for sure. I don't share too much info because there are some things that only true activists should know. Everyone else can guess. And fortunately for us, our "colors" don't show up in search engines. In many ways we fly under the radar.

So my heartfelt thanks to Nancy, Tanya, and George for taking New York biker activism to the next level. Organized action takes leadership, and you guys are leading from the front lines.

But it also takes experience, and that comes from practice ... even of it means falling flat on your face. So next time there is a special election, New York bikers can take it up a notch. All it takes is a little effort when it counts most. And hopefully by the 2010 elections, we'll start to build that biker-friendly majority that we all need in Albany.

Questions? Comments? BikersGOTVibes@gmail.com.