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House speaker wins union backing
MAPE, the second-largest state employees union, has endorsed DFLer Kelliher for governor.
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Four months after joining a gaggle of DFL gubernatorial candidates, Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher acquired what almost any serious Democratic contender needs: a union endorsement.
Kelliher, who represents Minneapolis, got the nod Thursday from the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, the second-largest state employees union.
Other unions -- including those representing nurses, local Teamsters, some local steelworkers, carpenters and Minnesota's largest state employees union -- opted for one of the other 11 DFL candidates in the race, splintering the power of labor to anoint a single candidate.
The endorsement brings with it "boots on the street" from the union, as well as financial support, said Jim Monroe, MAPE executive director. Early this week, Kelliher won a straw poll among activist MAPE members and consensus backing from leadership.
Support from the nearly 1,300 rank-and-file members, which include both Democrats and Republicans, is "not automatic," Monroe said. The union will work with members to get them on board, he said.
Monroe said he hopes the union will have about 100 members at the DFL's April endorsing convention, double the number it traditionally has had. Kelliher already has backing from 56 so-called "super-delegates," a group of elected officials and others who automatically get a vote at the convention.
Together, the two groups may give the House speaker a powerful first-ballot voting bloc among the 1,200 delegates who will decide which candidate gets DFL endorsement. That convention is expected to force out a number of candidates who have promised to drop out if they are not endorsed.
Other candidates also have significant labor forces on their sides.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak won backing from the Teamsters Local 120, while state Rep. Paul Thissen has the Nurses Association. State Rep. Tom Rukavina snagged four local steelworkers unions and state Sen. Tom Bakk has a regional carpenters union on his side. Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton nabbed the state's largest public employee union: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5.
Several key unions have yet to pick a favorite. Education Minnesota, with 70,000 members, may endorse next month, while the Service Employees International Union Minnesota State Council, with about 30,000 members, will wait at least until January.
Kelliher is among those who have pledged to drop out of the race if someone else gets the DFL Party's endorsement but said she could stay in if no one gets the nod.
"If there is no endorsement coming out of that convention, I think everyone foresees an even busier primary," she said Thursday.
Kelliher is one of 12 DFL candidates and seven Republicans vying to replace Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is not running for a third term.
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger • 651-292-0164
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