Md. AFL-CIO Endorses O'Malley for Governor

Labor Group Backs Cardin for Senate

Martin O'Malley (Sarah L. Voisin - Twp)

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's campaign for governor secured an unusually early and lopsided endorsement yesterday from Maryland's largest labor organization.

A committee of the Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO, which claims nearly 300,000 members, voted 52 to 11 to back O'Malley (D) over Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), who had lobbied hard for the endorsement.

The union's committee also gave its nod yesterday to Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D). The committee voted 48 to 16 to back the Baltimore-area lawmaker over former congressman and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume (D). None of the other candidates in the crowded Democratic field received votes.

Fred Mason, the union's president, said the AFL-CIO decided to endorse O'Malley more than six months before the Democratic primary because Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) "has not been particularly good on working-families issues, and we don't expect that to change. We were looking for an alternative, and we had to make a hard choice."

O'Malley said in an interview that he considered the endorsement "the most important one of the entire campaign."

"I think what the AFL-CIO saw in this candidacy was an opportunity to get the governor's office back on the side of working families," O'Malley said.

Scott Arceneaux, Duncan's campaign manager, dismissed the endorsement as "the insider's choice for governor" and said Duncan has received endorsements from a dozen smaller unions with membership totaling 34,000. "Doug Duncan's record on labor issues is second to none," Arceneaux said.

Mason said the AFL-CIO's choice of a Senate candidate was also difficult.

"There has not been a better U.S. senator than Paul Sarbanes," he said. "We had to make a hard choice between two individuals who had excellent voting records on our issues."

Cardin said in a statement that he considered the endorsement "a tremendous honor and a real boost to my campaign."

"I believe that if you work hard every day and play by the rules, then you deserve a fair wage, good benefits, and a secure retirement," Cardin said.

Although the AFL-CIO is considered a major player in Maryland politics, its reach is not what it used to be. Nationally, several member unions have defected from the AFL-CIO in recent years, including the Service Employees International Union.

Separately, Duncan picked up the endorsement yesterday of Salisbury Mayor Barrie P. Tilghman.