In the state of Nevada, a singular union provides a model that Democrats would do well to emulate. Culinary Workers Local 226 which represents some fifty-seven thousand men and women who serve guests in Las Vegas and Reno with food and drink, clean their rooms, and carry their bags is a formidable electoral machine. The union holds regular political education sessions for its members and rents buses to transport them to the polls. In its contracts with many hotels, it has even won the right for members to take a two-month leave from their jobs to campaign. When Democrats carry Clark county, where Las Vegas is located, the rural Republican base cannot muster enough votes to defeat them.
