It's about an hour before the polls close in the gubernatorial primary, and union leader Eliot Seide is making a few final calls at Mark Dayton's campaign headquarters on the East Side of St. Paul to get out the vote for him.
"I've just got two calls left," said Seide, executive director of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Council 5, who was working a phone list of likely Dayton supporters. "I've been calling since 2 this afternoon."
Dayton is counting heavily on union help. Seide's union as well as the Teamsters, steelworkers and police unions have endorsed Dayton. One of his opponents, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the endorsed DFL candidate, also has substantial union support, with endorsements from Education Minnesota, the United Auto Workers and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, among others.
Seide was among about three dozen volunteers and staffers gathered Tuesday evening in Dayton's headquarters, many of them working the phones. Their candidate was expected to arrive sometime after the polls closed at 8 p.m.
One union member regarded Dayton as a kind of kindred spirit -- even though he's a millionaire.
"He stands for the little guy," said Michael Lefkowitz of St. Louis Park, citing Dayton's proposal to tax wealthier incomes.
