Mike Hodge will serve a third term atop the New York local after narrowly defeating SAG-AFTRA co-president Roberta Reardon in the race for the union's N.Y presidency.
Hodge had 3,121 votes, just 118 more than Reardon's 3,003 in results revealed early Friday morning.
Reardon was president of AFTRA from 2007 to 2012 and has served with Ken Howard as co-president of SAG-AFTRA since last year's merger. Howard, who had endorsed Hodge, easily won the SAG-AFTRA national presidency by defeating Esai Morales in results announced Thursday.
Also read: SAG-AFTRA Election: President Ken Howard Re-Elected (Updated)
Reardon has indicated she'll seek the national executive vice-president position, which will be chosen by delegates at the union's convention in September. That's a potentially powerful position, which would make Reardon the chief operative for Howard, essentially putting those two at the top again.
“I want to express my sincere thanks to all the members who made their voices heard by voting in our historic first SAG-AFTRA election,” Hodge said in a statement. “It was a vigorous campaign and I’m grateful that NY members have elected me to lead our local. I’m eager to work with the new board to continue building a strong future for all the entertainment and media professionals we represent.”
Hodge led the United Screen Actors Nationwide slate, which has been strong in New York for years. Reardon was launching the New York Coalition for Unity. Both were pro-merger.
The breakdown of the New York voting can be found on the SAG-AFTRA web site.