Actors’ Equity applauded the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Saturday, as Biden was named the winner of the 2020 presidential race.
Equity had endorsed the Biden/Harris ticket and Equity members had been phone-baking for the candidates in the weeks leading up to the election. The union sees Biden’s win as bringing crucial support to the industry during the shutdown.
“Joe Biden will be the most consequential president for the arts industry in a generation,” Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity Association, said in a statement.
“At a time when live entertainment is still largely dark because of the coronavirus, we will finally have a partner in the White House who will create a national strategy to bring the pandemic under control and put everyone in the arts back to work. Until then, we need to reinstate pandemic unemployment so that displaced workers can pay their bills, increase arts funding and finally pass a COBRA subsidy to make health insurance affordable as unemployment stretches on.”
“The members of this union were proud to do our part,” said Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association. “We mobilized to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a desperate time for the theatre and everyone who works in the arts. I am so moved by the dedication of our actors and stage managers.”
