News & Events

NNU is major player in key national races

From the Massachusetts Nurse Newsletter
November/December 2010 Edition

National Nurses United was also active and successful this election season, with three key wins that will likely have a very positive influence on the nation’s health care system, patient safety and your nursing practice. Those wins include:

In California
Jerry Brown (D) won the governor’s race after the NNU actively endorsed his candidacy. The powerful nurses’ union also spent tremendous time and energy targeting his challenger, Meg Whitman, a wealthy Republican businessperson who pumped nearly $150 million of her own money into a campaign that was overpowered by the NNU and its grassroots organizing efforts.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) was re-elected for a fourth term after defeating opponent Carly Fiorina in the Nov. 2 election. The NNU endorsed Boxer and actively supported her campaign, and her re-election is particularly important for the NNU and its members as Boxer is the chief sponsor of a proposed federal safe staffing bill.

In Nevada
Democratic incumbent Harry Reid won the Nevada Senate race by defeating Sharron Angle, a candidate that the NNU and other activist groups railed against after she referred to the nation’s Social Security system as a “welfare program.”