1199ers Help elect Lovely Warren, Rochester City Council President as City’s First Female Mayor

November 11, 2013

When she started speaking about running for Mayor of Rochester, NY earlier in the year, the state’s Lieutenant Governor and former mayor said in effect that she should “wait her turn” and run in four years. Many others in power counseled against her running. But Lovely Warren felt the status quo was not good enough. Her campaign revolved around the theme that Rochester was a tale of two cities, that all of the neighborhoods were not getting the attention and investment that they needed from City Hall. She ran on making a priority of addressing the economic, educational and social ills of the high poverty areas of the city while continuing to revitalize our downtown.



As City Council President, Warren has been a strong supporter of working families and underprivileged households. The district she represents is one of the poorest in the nation and she made empowering and finding opportunities for its residents a priority. She has encouraged credit unions and retail business to open new stores in the inner city. She made a priority in helping increase the number of minority firefighters and police officers. Because of her recruitment and advocacy, the last graduating class of police officers had a record number of black and Hispanic members.



She has been a strong supporter of local unions, especially 1199SEIU. She and has marched with local workers during contract fights with local employers, like the 1199 contract fights with Strong Hospital. She knows personally many of the members and visited the office for a meeting with members shortly after her primary victory.



Despite numerous media polls showing her losing by 30 or more points, 1199ers phone banked and canvassed neighborhoods, and Warren ended up winning the Democratic Primary by 17 points. On November 5th, she was elected mayor with 55 percent of the vote, defeating the incumbent and a very visible Green Party candidate.