SEIU’s Crown Jewel Endorsement Goes To Jeff Merkley

The Purple People Have Spoken! With a singular and united voice the Service Employees International Union choose to endorse Speaker Jeff Merkley for the United States Senate.  Despite a significant setback losing the OEA endorsement this last weekend, the Merkley campaign rebounded to win the crown jewel in the race for endorsements.  SEIU’s endorsement is unparalleled in this race in terms of getting boots on the ground, phones ringing, doors knocked, and voters persuaded.

The choice to endorse Jeff Merkley makes sense as Merkley has been a strong fighter for workers and the right to organize in the Oregon legislature.  Merkley was the only member of the House of Representatives to receive straight A+’s from SEIU for his outstanding work during the 2007 legislative session.  SEIU understands that putting someone in the United States Senate who has shown the ability to pass important protections for workers, like majority union sign up, is desperately needed.  Therefore, they turned to Jeff Merkley, the only candidate who has legislative experience fighting and expanding workers rights.

On the electoral end, the endorsement is huge.  SEIU was a force to be reckoned with during the 2006 election, winning every ballot measure that the SEIU took a position on and picking up 8 out of their 9 targeted legislative races.  Their only setbacks were HD-49, where Karen Minnis spent $125 a vote to protect her seat and a ballot measure (M47) that was invalidated by SEIU’s defeat of its companion measure (M46).  Huge victories on the TABOR Measure (M48) also show that when SEIU gets down to business in Oregon, they win.

From state results we know that SEIU is strong in Oregon politics, but it is even stronger the national arena.  The National Journal rated SEIU as the most successful interest group in national politics, batting a stunning .714 during the last election including, winning their two targeted Senate campaigns.  Having previously endorsed Senator Obama for President, SEIU’s endorsement could be an even bigger boon for Merkley.  If SEIU’s mailers for the primary successfully tie Senator Obama, who runs very well in Oregon, at the top of the ticket with Merkley farther down, the potential boost in the primary, let alone in the general, could be enormous.  If SEIU publishes a candidate slate mailer, as they usually do, it could bind Senator Obama and Speaker Merkley in the minds of voters, which is a very good position to be in. Overall, SEIU’s endorsement puts boots on the ground, joining other unions like AFSCME, the Longshoremen, the American and Oregon Nurses Association, UFCW, and the Oregon AFL-CIO to provide a veritable army of ground troops.

Check out the audio clip of Speaker Merkley and SEIU Local 503 Executive Director Leslie Frane talking about Merkley’s history as a strong fighter for working people and the endorsement on KPOJ.