Laborers 1214 and 'JFK with a tattoo and a bench press' get behind Pennington for Congress
By BERRY CRAIG
AFT Local 1360
Democratic congressional hopeful Alonzo Pennington of Princeton has landed the backing of Paducah Laborers Local 1214 for Tuesday's primary.
At the same time, headline-grabbing West Virginian Richard Ojeda--the paratrooper-populist Democrat who Politico called "JFK with a tattoo and a bench press" -- took time out from his maverick congressional campaign to make a video promoting Pennington.
It just went up on Pennington's Facebook page.
Pennington, a guitarist-singer-songwriter-hunting guide, and Dr. Paul Walker, a Murray State University English professor, are vying for a crack at First District Rep. James Comer, R-Tompkinsville. He has no primary opposition.
"Alonzo Pennington for U.S. Congress," went up last night on the Local 1214 Facebook page. "Thanks for coming to our union meeting!"
"Thank you to the Paducah Laborers Local 1214 for supporting my campaign and recognizing that I am the best choice for working people on May 22," Pennington replied on his Facebook page.
Pennington and Walker have been making the rounds of district union halls. Both oppose "right to work" and support the prevailing wage.
When Comer ran for governor against Matt Bevin in the 2015 Republican primary, both candidates supported a RTW law and PW repeal. Bevin won and defeated Democrat Jack Conway in the general election.
After the GOP flipped the Democratic-majority House in November, 2016, the Republican legislature, in January, 2017, passed RTW and abolished PW. Bevin eagerly signed both measures.
In March, the Kentucky State AFL-CIO Executive Board, functioning as the state COPE Committee, unanimously voted "no recommendation" in the First District congressional primary. That freed local unions to support the candidates of their choice.
Endorsements for the fall elections will be considered on June 13, the date for the next regularly scheduled Executive Board meeting in Frankfort. Immediately after the E-board meeting, the panel will become the COPE Committee.
The E-board meeting starts at 10 a.m. at the Office Pub and Deli, 614 Comanche Trail.
In the meantime, central labor councils will meet and vote to recommend candidates to the COPE Committee.
Comer will face Pennington or Walker on Nov. 6.
Pennington and Ojeda, a state senator, have been endorsed by TV journalist Krystal Ball's Peoples House Project, an organization that seeks out and helps working-class Democrats in Midwestern and Appalachian congressional districts.
"This video makes me soooo happy," Ball commented on Pennington's Facebook page. "You two together in Washington? Look out world."
The People's House Project is also behind Bluegrass State Democrat Scott Sykes of Elkhorn City in the Fifth Congressional District.