Phoenix, AZ – Tonight the hospitality worker union UNITE HERE celebrates electoral victory in the gubernatorial primary of Arizona, where the union’s endorsed pro-worker candidate with a commitment to immigrant families achieved victory in a competitive field. UNITE HERE union workers have spent weeks campaigning on the ground in Arizona and other states for their endorsed candidate, including educating their coworkers on the candidates, engaging in direct voter contact door to door, and having one-on-one persuasion conversations with their neighbors.

In Arizona, David Garcia advanced to the general election out of a three-way primary after a major showing of ground game support from UNITE HERE in the weeks preceding the election. If elected in November, the education champion will be the first Latino governor of Arizona in a generation and only the second in state history. Maggie Acosta is a UNITE HERE member in Arizona who has been campaigning for Garcia. “Things in Arizona have to change. As a working mom, it’s hard to support myself and my two boys on my own. We need a governor who understands working people and who will fight for us.” UNITE HERE union members like Acosta have knocked on over 40,000 doors, registering over 25,000 voters, and securing 5,000 ballot initiative signatures in Arizona this cycle.

Widely recognized for the political work of its powerful Nevada affiliate Culinary Union 226, UNITE HERE has been expanding its political portfolio in recent years under the leadership of International Union President D. Taylor, developing what have become formidable direct voter contact programs of its diverse membership in key swing states and bellwether districts across North America. Known for uniquely effective worker organizing techniques that have propelled UNITE HERE to be the single fastest-growing union in the AFL-CIO, the union continues to apply that prowess to the political process, mobilizing workers to elect candidates who stand with working people and to run and win office themselves. UNITE HERE has run and elected hotel and hospitality workers for political office across the country in recent years, and been credited with contributing to recent political victories including the ousting of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the election of Catherine Cortez-Masto in Nevada, and numerous ballot measure campaigns, including the summer 2018 passage of a minimum wage raise for Miami International Airport workers.

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UNITE HERE represents 270,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in the U.S. and Canada. Learn more at www.unitehere.org