Patricia Bentley

Longtime UUP member and activist Patricia Bentley of SUNY Plattsburgh, left, wants to make a difference in the upcoming presidential election. So she contacted NYSUT and asked to be slated as a labor delegate for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, who last year picked up an endorsement from the AFT and other national labor unions.

After collecting the required 500 signatures, Bentley will now appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary in the 23rd Congressional District (CD) — a region larger than Vermont. It encompasses eight counties and parts of three others, from Plattsburgh to Oswego and from Blue Mountain Lake to Malone.

When voters go to the polls Feb. 5, they should remember that they’ll be casting two ballots: one for the presidential primary and one to elect their Congressional District’s delegation to the national conventions this summer.

Bentley, the only UUPer slated for Clinton anywhere in the state, hopes to be among the three women and two men elected in the 23rd CD.

“I’m supporting Hillary because I believe she is extraordinarily prepared for the position,” Bentley said. “I won’t see a candidate who is as qualified, as smart and as experienced as she is for the rest of my life.”

— Karen L. Mattison