AFSCME Endorses DeStefano

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AFSCME Endorses DeStefano

Chris Keating, Hartford Courant May 16, 2006

Pushing his total to 40 union endorsements, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano gained momentum Monday with support from the state's largest AFL-CIO affiliated union - a local powerhouse with 35,000 members.

With the addition of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to the list, 160,000 union households are now being urged to vote for DeStefano. The 40 unions' workers range from custodians and day-care workers to carpenters, painters and roofers. DeStefano also has been endorsed by District 1199 of the New England Health Care Employees Union, which sided with Lowell Weicker in the 1990 gubernatorial race, and the building trades unions that backed Republican John G. Rowland.

"We haven't had that kind of teamwork in the Democratic Party since 1986 - the last time we elected a Democrat as governor," DeStefano said Monday. "This collection of unions has not worked together for 20 years. They just haven't."

DeStefano said he was confident that he will win the endorsement of his party at Saturday's state convention in Hartford. His opponent, Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, is similarly confident of his own win.

Malloy's strategist and spokesman, Roy Occhiogrosso, downplayed the endorsement by the state's largest union, saying Malloy's strength comes from across the entire party.

"Dan has a lot of support among the rank and file of every union in the state," Occhiogrosso said. "A handful of union leaders has made a decision, and Dan disagrees with that decision. ... What's most important is not the number of endorsements you have from any one constituency group. It's the support within those groups."

Compared to his opponent's 40 endorsements, Malloy has been endorsed by six unions. Saying that DeStefano does not have the convention "locked up," Occhiogrosso said Malloy has a better chance of defeating Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell in November because of the depth of his support.

Well-known union activist Leo Canty said Monday's announcement was important because DeStefano now has unions representing more than two-thirds of the AFL-CIO - meaning he expects DeStefano to receive the umbrella organization's endorsement at its state convention in late June. In addition, Canty said as many as 30 local unions will be running telephone banks in DeStefano's behalf.

"In a primary, union members are a high proportion of the voters," said Canty, the vice president of the Connecticut chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. "These are the kind of things that labor unions bring that Dan [Malloy] does not have. Dan's claim to fame is he appeals to Republicans. They aren't voting this time. He's not going to appeal to the Democratic base of progressive union supporters."

Longtime Republican strategist Christopher Healy agreed that AFSCME's clout will help slow down Malloy's surge from recent months and help during the dog days of August.

"From a primary perspective, it's a huge endorsement for" DeStefano, Healy said. "That certainly gives him a shot in the arm, especially since Malloy was coming on like gangbusters. AFSCME provides foot soldiers and the political network in August" for the primary.

But while DeStefano and Malloy continued to clash over who has the most support and the most momentum, state House Republican leader Robert Ward said the intraparty squabbling will be all for naught. Although the AFSCME endorsement could be helpful in a Democratic primary, Ward said it is "not relevant to the final outcome of an election" in November.

"AFSCME has endorsed every losing candidate for governor in the last 20 years," said Ward, who supports Rell. "In November, it won't help, and it may actually hurt."

Past Democratic candidates, including William Curry and Barbara Kennelly, have had extensive support from unions in the race for governor and were unable to defeat Rowland in three elections from 1994 to 2002.