Martin Sheen Tops Voting for SAG-AFTRA National Board

Martin Sheen has received the most votes of the 40 Los Angeles candidates seeking election to the SAG-AFTRA national board, winning a four-year term with 5,803 votes.

Sheen, whose most famous role was as the U.S. President on “The West Wing,” was one of 15 winners announced Thursday night as union members opted for high-profile names. They also re-elected presidential candidates Esai Morales with 5,705 votes and Gabrielle Carteris with 4,567 to four-year terms.

A quartet of new high-profile candidates — Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Modine, Abigail Spencer and Regina King — were also among the winners. King, who has won three Emmys for “American Crime,” received the third-highest vote total with 5,153.

Most of the attention has been on the presidential race with current president Carteris being re-elected as head of the Unite For Strength ticket over a challenge from Membership First’s Morales. King and Spencer are part of Unite For Strength while Modine and Taylor Thomas are affiliated with Membership First.

Membership First’s other winning national board candidates included current secretary-treasurer Jane Austin, Pamela Guest and Greg Evigan. Unite for Strength’s other winning national board candidates in Los Angeles included incumbents Jenny O’Hara and Robert Pine along with Jason George, Michelle Hurd and Clyde Kusatsu.

The 80-member national board is the key ruling body for SAG-AFTRA and Los Angeles has the largest presence on it. The progressive-leaning Membership First faction has about a dozen seats on the body, which is dominated by the moderates of Unite For Strength and its allies.

In addition to being re-elected national secretary-treasurer and winning a national board seat, Austin was also re-elected Los Angeles local president. In New York, Mike Hodge easily won re-election as local president.