October 30, 2024

With Vice President Kamala Harris expected to easily win New York in the Nov. 5 presidential election, a busload of UUP members, UUP staff and members of other unions traveled to the battleground state of Pennsylvania Oct. 26 to get out the vote for Harris.

More than 25 people—including statewide Vice President for Professionals Carolyn Kube, Secretary-Treasurer Jeri O’Bryan-Losee and Membership Development Officer Patrick Romain—boarded a bus at UUP’s headquarters in Latham, Albany County and traveled to Scranton on a cold, bright Saturday morning.

UUP President Fred Kowal was also in Scranton on Oct. 26; he and Kube will be in the city until Election Day, going door to door to encourage residents to vote for Harris. Vice President for Academics Alissa Karl is in Pittsburgh all week, working to secure votes for Harris in that city.

“We’re here to make sure people know that Kamala Harris is the right choice on Nov. 5,” said Kowal. “We must defeat (Republican presidential candidate) Donald Trump to preserve our democracy and we will do everything in our power to help make that happen.”

UUP members and staff were sent out in pairs to canvass in Scranton—the birthplace and childhood home of President Joe Biden—and areas of Lackawanna County, a traditionally blue area. Biden won Lackawanna County in the 2020 presidential election, taking 53 percent of the vote, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State website.

The volunteers knocked on doors and rang doorbells, asking people who were home if they planned to vote, who they planned to vote for and if they were going to vote early or on Nov. 5. They distributed literature on registering to vote and voting early for those who hadn’t already done so.

“We are here answering Michelle Obama’s call at the Democratic National Convention to do something,” Kowal said. “Kamala Harris needs to win as many swing state votes as possible and we’re going to do all we can to see that she wins in Pennsylvania.”