Anyway, Astin announced his intention to go where we can’t follow—because we’re not members of SAG-AFTRA, and are thus ineligible for the presidency—on Friday, along with news that he’d be running on a ticket with Michelle Hurd as secretary-treasurer, Joely Fisher as president of the Los Angeles Local Board, Lisa Ann Walter as first vice president, and David Joliffe set to come back as second vice president. Astin has both a historical link to the job—his mom, Patty Duke, held the position in 1985—as well as a fair amount of practical experience, having been on five SAG-AFTRA negotiating committees, including the one that eventually settled matters with the Hollywood studios amid the strikes of 2023.
Those same strikes also put a lot of focus on why presidency of the union is a big deal, not just for actors, but for anybody who enjoys TV or movies: Current president Fran Drescher was front-and-center for the conflicts between the studios and the union throughout the last few years, setting public talking points, adopting tones of reconciliation or readiness for battle, and underlining the group’s public priorities in ways that directly influenced both the existence, and the outcomes, of the strikes.
The big question mark now is Drescher herself, who was elected to the position in 2021. She hasn’t stated publicly yet whether she’ll run against Astin, even as the union gears up for another run of contract negotiations in the next few years. Per Deadline, submissions for the election were due on Friday; a full list of candidates is expected to be made public next week.
