Big Unions Sidestep Mayoral Race–For Now / Chicago News Cooperative

After spending millions of dollars last year to elect Gov. Patrick Quinn and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, the Service Employees International Union is hesitating to get involved in the race to succeed retiring Mayor Richard M. Daley.

On Friday, after interviewing the mayoral hopefuls in the Feb. 22 election, SEIU officials decided to issue no endorsement, at least not yet.

SEIU State Council President Thomas Balanoff said there were “a couple good candidates” for mayor and the union, which has become the top campaign donor to Illinois politicians, could become involved if there is a run-off to succeed Daley in April.

“We’ve stayed neutral,” Balanoff told the Chicago News Cooperative on Friday. “We think there will be a run-off. We will take a hard look at the two candidates who make the run-off.”

The union’s political director, Jerry Morrison, expressed his dismay at the prospect of Emanuel as mayor almost immediately after Daley said he would retire and Emanuel emerged as a possible successor.

But with the former congressman and presidential adviser leading in polls, labor groups including the Chicago Federation of Labor also have balked at injecting themselves in the mayor’s race.

Balanoff said SEIU is focusing instead on City Council races across Chicago’s wards. On Friday, SEIU officials made endorsements in 26 of 50 wards, and they said they could get involved in other races before the Feb. 22 voting or in the campaign for the run-off.

Four years ago, SEIU spent almost $2.5 million in Council races, spearheading a union effort that helped depose Daley allies like Madeline Haithcock, Shirley Coleman and Dorothy Tillman. Asked about the budget for this election, Balanoff said SEIU expects to be involved “at the same level as last time.” Total expenditures by SEIU and other labor groups, including the CFL, could top $4 million, union sources told the CNC.

The endorsement decisions Friday show that SEIU will again back many of the candidates that it helped in 2007, with a couple of notable exceptions. SEIU officials snubbed old friends Sandi Jackson (7th Ward) and JoAnn Thompson (16th), issuing no endorsements in those races.

Balanoff declined comment when asked why SEIU is staying neutral in the 7th Ward, where former Ald. Darcel Beavers is challenging Jackson. During her freshman term in the council, Jackson changed her position and became a backer of allowing non-union Wal-Mart to expand in the city. She also recently lost the support of the CFL.

Thompson had relied almost entirely on union funding for her 2007 campaign, but she quickly became a dependable vote for Daley’s agenda, alienating her friends in labor.

The SEIU endorsements also indicate that at least some in labor are eager to again try to unseat incumbents who repelled union-funded challenges four years ago. SEIU endorsed Sheldon Sherman against Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st), Ambrosio “Ambi” Medrano Jr. over Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) and Debra Silverstein instead of Ald. Bernard Stone (50th).

Brookins, Solis and Stone “”have not been sensitive to our issues,” Balanoff said. “They’ve been very aligned with the mayor on a number of issues, including Wal-Mart,” Balanoff added. “They have voted in the interests of business and not in the interests of working families.”

Union leaders said they could also fund challengers to incumbents Emma Mitts (37th) and George Cardenas (12th), but on Friday they deferred making endorsements in those wards.

With 10 incumbents retiring, there are many candidates for some of the open seats. SEIU issued endorsements in some of those races, favoring Democratic committeeman Mary O’Connor in the 41st Ward and labor activist Marina Faz-Hupper in the 45th. But the union is taking a wait-and-see approach in other races for open seats, including the 43rd and 46th Wards.

Some of the SEIU choices diverged from the positions already staked out by the CFL and other labor allies. In the 48th Ward, the CFL had endorsed veteran state legislator Harry Osterman to succeed retiring Ald. Mary Ann Smith, but the SEIU issued no endorsement. In one of his last actions in Springfield, Osterman voted last week against the new income-tax hike, which SEIU supported.

Tags: Chicago Federation of Labor, City Council, endorsements, Jerry Morrison, mayoral election, Rahm Emanuel, SEIU, Thomas Balanoff

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 15th, 2011 at 5:04 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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