I suppose turnabout is fair play. During the recent SAG elections, a group of pro-AFTRA merger members got themselves elected to the SAG Board. Now some anti-AFTRA merger members of SAG are trying to get on the AFTRA board. Anne-Marie Johnson (one of Membership First's leaders and the VP of SAG's Hollywood Division), and Alan Ruck (an MF stalwart), and David Jolliffe (another MF stalwart), and Dave Clennon (an outspoken critic of the louisy terms of the AFTRA contract along with the other two) are all running for the 11 open seats representing Los Angeles on AFTRA's National Board. It's all perfectly legal: they are dual card-holders and therefore eligible to be AFTRA National Board candidates because they qualified for the ballot by nominating petition. (If I missed some names, give me a shout-out...)

Here is the AFTRA announcement tonight:

Los Angeles, California (April 16, 2009)—The Los Angeles Local of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists—the people who entertain and inform America — announced the complete list of candidates for its 2009 election of Los Angeles Officers and Board members, Los Angeles-based National Board members, and delegates to the 2009 AFTRA National Convention.

All seven incumbent AFTRA Los Angeles Officers were named candidates for re-election by the AFTRA Los Angeles Nominating Committee and will run unopposed for additional two-year terms. They include Los Angeles President Ron Morgan; First Vice President Susan Boyd Joyce; Second Vice President Gabrielle Carteris; Third Vice President Bobbie Bates; Fourth Vice President
Jason George; Recording Secretary Patrika Darbo; and Treasurer Jay Gerber.

A total of 22 AFTRA Los Angeles Board seats are up for election with candidates either having been selected by the Los Angeles Nominating Committee or qualifying for the ballot by Nominating Petition. Actors named by the Nominating Committee to fill 11 openings include incumbents David Bowe, Raza Burgee, Andrew Caple-Shaw, Gabrielle Carteris, Bob Joles, and Kate Linder, along with David Andriole, Mimi Cozzens, Sandra de Bruin, James Schneider, and Marcia Strassman. Qualifying for the ballot by Nominating Petition are incumbent actors Nancy Daly and Paul Napier, joined by actor David Jolliffe. Incumbent announcer Mike Sakellarides and announcer Chuck Southcott were named by the Nominating Committee as candidates to fill two vacancies representing that category. Dancer Galen Hooks, also an incumbent Board member, was named as a candidate by the Nominating
Committee to fill one vacancy in that category. Candidates to fill two singer vacancies are incumbents Susan Boyd Joyce and Dick Wells, both also selected by the Nominating Committee. Incumbent broadcaster Pepe Barreto was named by the Nominating Committee as a candidate for re-election representing the newsperson category with two additional newsperson seats
remaining to be filled. There are also three vacancies representing the sportscaster category to be filled.

Thirteen seats representing Los Angeles on AFTRA's National Board are up for election, with one seat guaranteed for Los Angeles Announcers and one for Los Angeles Newspersons. The remaining 11 seats will be filled based on the plurality of votes received. All National Board candidates qualified for the ballot by Nominating Petition. Candidates include incumbents Bobbie Bates, Susan Boyd Joyce, Gabrielle Carteris, Jay Gerber, Ron Morgan, Paul Petersen, and Sally Stevens. Also running are members Granville Ames, Steven Barr, L. Scott Caldwell, David Clennon, Milo Edwards, Carole Elliott, Anne-Marie Johnson, D.W. Moffett, Jason Priestley, Elizabeth Reynolds, and Alan Ruck.

Officer and Board Candidates will have the opportunity to address the membership at the AFTRA Los Angeles annual "Meet the Candidates" forum on Wednesday evening, April 29, at the union's headquarters.

Los Angeles members will also elect 198 delegates to represent their performing categories at the 2009 AFTRA National Convention scheduled for August 6-8 in Chicago, Illinois.

Ballots will be mailed on May 8 with a voting deadline of June 3. Elected Los Angeles Officers and Board members will begin their terms July 1. National Board members begin their four-year terms at the conclusion of this summer's National Convention.