Labor Split In Oregon Governor's Race
Labor plays a pivotal role in Democratic party politics. But unions are split in the Democratic primary race for Oregon governor. The man who once held that job, John Kitzhaber, racked up another set of labor union endorsements Tuesday in his bid to be governor again. But Kitzhaber's chief opponent in the May Democratic primary, Bill Bradbury, is receiving union support too. Bill Bradbury loves to talk about education. At a debate sponsored by Multnomah County Democrats, his voice rose as he described his plan to scale back tax breaks to raise money for schools. “It clearly is going to take a creative solution that is collaborative and involves as many people as possible," he said.Bradbury estimates he can find $2 billion in education funding through his plan. Talk of such a huge increase helped win him the endorsement of several state teachers' unions, including the powerful Oregon Education Association. The OEA's Hanna Vaandering says Bradbury was a clear winner over John Kitzhaber. “He won the heart and soul of our members, and the support of Bill in this campaign is strong. Our members believe in what he stands for," she said.The teachers' endorsement gives Bradbury a boost heading into the final two months of the primary season. Bradbury now has more political credibility in a race in which some saw Kitzhaber as the obvious front-runner. But the former governor still outpaces Bradbury in fund raising by a long shot. And he's already turned the OEA endorsement into a talking point. He told the audience at the Multnomah Democrats' Debate that it hurt to lose the teachers' union endorsement. But he had a ready explanation. “I couldn't tell them that I could promise to increase K-through-12 funding 30 percent in the face of a $2.5 billion budget deficit. I told them the truth, as I believe it. And that's exactly the same kind of truth that I've tried to deliver to you this evening," he said.Kitzhaber has racked up his own slate of union endorsements. The latest round includes transit workers and plumbers. He also has support from the labor coalition AFL-CIO. That group's spokesperson, Elana Guiney, said its members found Kitzhaber to be the better all-around candidate. “I think it was more just across the board it looked like he had more ideas, he had more ideas that people believed would really work, and would really jump-start the economy," she said.Meanwhile, the union that represents tens of thousands of public employees is remaining neutral in the Democratic primary. Arthur Towers of SEIU Local 503 said the group supports both Kitzhaber and Bradbury, and prefers to conserve its energy for the general election. The local and national branches of the union poured more than $2 million into the effort the pass a pair of tax measures earlier this year. But Towers said it's not just about money. He says the union's members also want to catch their breath after the campaign for Measures 66 and 67. “There were nearly a million phone calls made on the Vote Yes campaign and folks knocked on more than 300,000 doors. And so it was more an issue in terms of resources on time and energy," he said.Even the unions that have issued endorsements in the Oregon Democratic governor's primary have so far played it low-key when it comes to financial contributions. Bob Bussel of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon says that allows them to save their financial muscle for the general election.“In the end, most of the unions in all likelihood will line up behind the Democratic candidate. There's a bygones be bygones approach I think that generally ensues in these sorts of cases," he said.Especially when the Democratic nominee faces a Republican in the general election. Both parties choose their candidates May 18th.
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