Peter Cacchione

Peter Vincent "Pete" Cacchione (November 1, 1897 – November 6, 1947) was an American communist labor leader and politician who served on the New York City Council from 1942 until his death in 1947. He was the first open member of the Communist Party elected to public office in the state of New York.

Early life Peter Vincent Cacchione was born to an Italian-American immigrant family in Syracuse, New York, on November 1, 1897, and grew up in Sayre, Pennsylvania. After graduating high school, he was director of sports activities for the Catholic Welfare Council, later becoming a steel worker in Bethlehem, a street car conductor, riveter and trainman on the Lackawanna Railroad.

Career

Cacchione entered politics through the Unemployed Councils, joining the Communist Party USA in 1932 and leading a delegation of the communist-affiliated Workers Ex-Servicemen's League in the 1932 Bonus March on Washington, D.C. He became National Commander of the League in 1935.

In 1936, New York City voters amended the City Charter to implement the proportional representation system for council elections beginning with the 1937 election cycle. Cacchione ran that year losing by a slim margin of only 300 votes. He ran again in 1939 but was thrown off the ballot along with all the other communist candidates on procedural technicalities. He was finally elected in 1941, making him the first open member of the Communist Party elected to public office in the state of New York. He was re-elected in 1943 and 1945, the last time receiving the full quota of 75,000 votes to guarantee him a seat.

Immediately after his election in 1941, Councilman Hugh Quinn, Democrat of Queens, announced that he would challenge Cacchione's right to sit on the Council pursuant to the Devaney Law. Other Council members opined that they preferred him to openly disseminate his political doctrines on the council rather than to do so through "underground channels." Despite Cacchione's political affiliation, he came to be genuinely popular and well-liked by his fellow councilmen.

Personal life and death

Cacchione was a fan of the Lone Ranger radio series, going so far as to avoid speaking engagements while it was on the air. He married Dorothy Rosenfeld, his secretary at the Workers Ex-Servicemen's League, in May 1937. Together they had one son, Bernard Thomas "Bernie" Cacchione, born in July 1940. Bernard later graduated from Brooklyn College in 1962 and was elected vice president of Local 371 of the Social Service Employees Union, representing employees of the New York City Department of Social Services, in 1964.

On November 6, 1947, Cacchione died of a sudden heart attack at his home in Brooklyn. He had returned from a council meeting earlier that day. His death prompted condolences from mayor William O'Dwyer, fellow councilman Eugene P. Connolly, and the Communist Party itself.

Succession controversy Under New York City law, council vacancies had to be filled by a member of the same political party as the previous officeholder, but when the Communist Party nominated Si Gerson, former city editor of the Daily Worker, the council refused on the grounds that the Communist Party was not legally a political party. Instead, the seat was left vacant, and a special election was held the following year. Although Gerson received the nominations of the Communist and American Labor parties (earning 18,000 votes on the former ballot line and 132,000 votes on the latter), he came in third place with 15% of the vote, behind Republican Jacob P. Lefkowitz and Democrat Jack Kranis, the victor.

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