from: Todd Cunningham, TheWrap.com –
Whether or not the presidential race delivers on the drama, there’s sure to be a degree of suspense surrounding the inaugural SAG-AFTRA election: Will it come off without a hitch?
The results, which will determine who will head the newly-merged union during next year’s negotiations on a new contract with the studios and TV networks, could be announced as early as 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
But the tabulation of the ballots, which were mailed out on July 16, will be uncharted territory for the union, which now has more than 160,000 members. SAG-AFTRA spokeswoman Pamela Greenwalt cautioned that the counting could go into the evening.
Results of the voting in the Los Angeles local, whose members make up about half of the union’s membership, and New York local elections will also be announced at the same time. Schedules vary for other local elections, and several have already been announced.
Ken Howard, the union’s current co-president, is running for the top spot against national board member Esai Morales. SAG’s Howard and AFTRA’s Roberta Reardon have been co-presidents since March of last year, when members approved the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Howard, who was elected in 2009 as the 25th and final president of SAG, heads the union’s Unite For Strength slate. He and that group were strong advocates for merger, while Morales and his Membership First allies campaigned strongly against it.
Howard has the edge in most observers’ eyes, given his incumbency and the vote on the merger, which passed with a whopping 86 percent of the votes. National secretary-treasurer candidates are current co-secretary-treasurer Amy Aquino, who is aligned with Howard, and stuntwoman Jane Austin, who is backing Morales.
That’s a potentially powerful position, which would make Reardon the chief operative for the president. If Howard wins, it would essentially put those two at the top again.
Reardon is running against fellow merger-supporter Mike Hodge, who will be seeking his third consecutive term atop the local, and tops a slate of United Screen Actors Nationwide. Howard has endorsed Hodge.
Besides the president and secretary-treasurer, the contests will determine most members of a new 70-seat national board along with delegates to the first SAG-AFTRA convention — where the exec VP and seven other VPs will be elected in late September.
– UPDATE –
A couple hours after announcing the re-election of Ken Howard as National President, the union has unveiled the results of its Los Angeles local balloting. Clyde Kusatsu was elected President, with Jenny O’Hara as First VP and Susan Boyd Joyce as Second VP. This is the 24th of the 25 SAG-AFTRA locals to be announced, leaving only New York, the results of which are expected tonight.
Clyde Kusatsu | President | Two-Year Term |
Jenny O’Hara | First Vice President | Two-Year Term |
Susan Boyd Joyce | Second Vice President | Two-Year Term |
Jenny O’Hara | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Esai Morales | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Amy Aquino | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Clyde Kusatsu | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Gabrielle Carteris | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Joanna Cassidy | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Jason George | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Jane Austin | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Patricia Richardson | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
L. Scott Caldwell | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
D.W. Moffett | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Marisol Nichols | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Vivicca A. Whitsett | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Jon Huertas | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Woody Schultz | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Sumi Haru | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Mimi Cozzens | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Tara Radcliffe | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Natalia Castellanos | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Ellen Crawford | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Elizabeth McLaughlin | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Shyla La’Sha | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Patrick Fabian | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Dan Navarro | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Ana Lilia | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Michelle Dunker | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Robin Riker | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Assaf Cohen | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
George Coe | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
David Jolliffe | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Patrika Darbo | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Paul Napier | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Lauri Hendler | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Kate Linder | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Ron Morgan | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Tracy Fraim | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
David Westberg | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Michael Bell | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Bertila Damas | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
William Charlton | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Clyde Sacks | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Julie Michaels | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Galen Hooks | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Iqbal Theba | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Mike Sakellarides | Local Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Martin Sheen | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Tony Shalhoub | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Esai Morales | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Ken Howard | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Jenny O’Hara | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Amy Aquino | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Clyde Kusatsu | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Stephen Collins | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Marcia Wallace | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Jane Austin | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Joanna Cassidy | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Gabrielle Carteris | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Robert Pine | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Jeff Garlin | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Jason George | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Patricia Richardson | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Marisol Nichols | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
D.W. Moffett | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Lisa Vidal | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Susan Boyd Joyce | National Board Member | Four-Year Term |
Sumi Haru | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Hal Eisner | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
L. Scott Caldwell | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Jon Huertas | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Mimi Cozzens | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Ellen Crawford | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Patrick Fabian | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |
Bobbie Bates | National Board Member | Two-Year Term |