Tuesday September 16th was a big election day in for labor candidates.  Ken Donnelly, the long-time Secretary-Treasurer of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, won a strong victory in the Democratic primary for the Fourth Middlesex Senate Seat, which is based in Arlington.  Julia Fahey, a lawyer from NAGE/SEIU Local 5000, also ran a strong second in a five-candidate race for a vacant State House seat based in Watertown.  All five candidates had to run on stickers. 

The GBLC ran an extensive phone bank and labor walk operation on behalf of both Donnelly and Fahey. Over fifty volunteers made labor-to-labor calls from IBEW Local 103 and large delegations of GBLC activists canvassed union members on the two Saturdays prior to the September 16th primary.  GBLC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Rich Rogers expressed his satisfaction, noting that the Council 'look[s] forward to Ken Donnelly joining the Senate in January. He will be an outstanding advocate for working families. At the same time we commend Julia Fahey for her campaign and we were proud to support her.’

Donnelly joins State Senator Steve Tolman as a former union leader now in the Senate. "Nothing will get by those two," Rogers said.