Created: 10/22/2009 1:16 PM KSTP.com | Print |  Email

Unions Aren't United in Minn. Governor's Race

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota labor unions are headed in different directions when it comes to the state's 2010 race for governor.

Carpenters want state Sen. Tom Bakk. The nurses union is behind state Rep. Paul Thissen. Teamsters are backing Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who hasn't even declared his gubernatorial candidacy yet. Others are on the fence.

Labor unions are a powerful constituency in Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and the divide could loom large at next April's DFL endorsing convention. If past patterns hold, about a third of delegates will have union ties. It takes a 60 percent convention vote to win the party's backing.

The dominant state workers union - the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 - holds its candidate screening on Saturday.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)