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Capitol Weekly’s annual Top 100 list — what it calls a “subjective ranking of unelected political players” — is out, and for the second year in a row, Joe Nunez, the head of the California Teachers Association, is #2, just behind Ann Gust, who is Governor Jerry Brown‘s wife. The paper called the 325,000 member CTA “the single most influential political entity in the state.”
Courtni Pugh, the head of the SEIU local 99, which represents service workers in LAUSD, came in at #59. The paper writes: “When you think of labor politics and clout, you think of Courtni Pugh, the executive director of SEIU Local 99 who also served as SEIU’s state political director, a major gig in a state where the powerful union is embroiled in battles, and not always with outsiders.”
Maria Elena Durazo, who heads the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, an umbrella group for LA unions that includes UTLA, was ranked #9, three spots higher than last year.
Previous posts: Report: CA Teachers 6th Most Powerful; Local 99, LAUSD’s “Other” Labor Union; Big Labor Leader Gets Big Profile