Fran Drescher supporters have held on to two more national board seats as the SAG-AFTRA elections wrap up later this week. Incumbent Bill Mootos has been reelected in New England, and incumbent Mel MacKaron has been reelected in New Mexico.
With only four of the union’s 25 local races to be decided, it now looks more and more likely that Drescher’s ruling Unite for Strength party and its affiliates will continue to hold a majority of the 69 national board seats, no matter who wins the national presidency – Drescher or Matthew Modine. Local elections in Los Angeles and New York, where 23 national board seats are still up for grabs, will determine the balance of power. Those races, and the campaigns for national president and secretary-treasurer, will conclude Thursday.
In New England, Mootos defeated Chuck Slavin by a 2-to-1 margin – 469 votes to 225. Slavin was endorsed by Modine’s MembershipFirst slate. A third candidate, George J. Vezina, received 48 votes.
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Slavin also lost his bid to unseat Andrea Lyman as president of the New England Local. Lyman, who also supports Drescher, also doubled up on Slavin, 506 votes to 239. Her local vice presidential running mates Tom Kemp and Vic Ramos also won, as did incumbent secretary Ellen Colton, all of whom are Drescher supporters. Of the local’s 2,783 eligible members, 757 voted (27.2%).
In New Mexico, MacKaron defeated challengers Michael Miller and Heath Hensley. MacKaron got 95 votes; Miller got 76; and Hensley, who was endorsed by Modine’s MembershipFirst, came in third with 50. Of the local’s 772 eligible members, 225 cast ballots (29.15%).
Voting is ongoing at the union’s locals in Philadelphia and San Diego, but only Philadelphia is electing a national board member this cycle.