The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis Monday announced it had given DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton its endorsement.
The endorsement is a party switch for the federation -- in 2002 and 2006 it endorsed Republican Tim Pawlenty.
But this time around, Dayton won the board's allegiance.
"This was about relationships," said Lt. John Delmonico, longtime president of the police union. "Mark's a guy that will listen, Mark's a guy that cares and Mark's a guy that will get things done."
The union has endorsed both Democrats and Republicans before -- two years ago Republican Norm Coleman won the group's nod over Democrat Al Franken in the U.S. Senate race, but Delmonico also recalled that the group has endorsed Democrat Amy Klobuchar when she ran for Senate in 2006 and Dayton previously when he ran for Senate in 2000.
Dayton won the Minnesota Police & Peace Officers Association endorsement before the Aug. 10 DFL primary.
Delmonico said his group screened the other gubernatorial candidates in the race -- Republican Tom Emmer and Independence Party's Tom Horner.
