By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 4, 2006
Mark Faber, a plumber from Anne Arundel County, waited eagerly for his U.S. Senate candidate to arrive at the Baltimore union hall.
"You don't know it, but I've worked the polls for years for you," Faber told Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D), shaking his hand vigorously before pulling on a white Cardin T-shirt over his black Local 486 T-shirt.
"I don't know where yet," Faber said later, "but I'll be at one of the polls, working" for the Sept. 12 primary.
Along the side of a busy Columbia road, Ann DeLacy waved a white campaign sign for her Senate candidate, Kweisi Mfume, and chanted "Woo, woo!" when drivers honked their approval.
"We're doing literally everything we can to try to get him elected," said DeLacy, president of the Howard County Education Association. Her efforts including asking friends to contribute to the Democrat's cash-strapped campaign in lieu of gifts for her recent wedding.
In the final stretch before the primary, unions across Maryland are kicking their efforts into high gear -- sending mailers, posting yard signs, staffing phone banks and knocking on doors to promote their favored candidates.
Although the ranks of organized labor have thinned and splintered across the nation in recent years, their members remain some of the most loyal and sought-after foot soldiers in local politics.
"People often talk about labor losing influence because of declining numbers," said Michele Lewis, political director for the Maryland chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "But politicians still clamor to get labor's support because it comes with such great ground-troop resources."
Labor has never packed the same punch in Maryland as in some states with far greater blue-collar populations. But given the state's heavily Democratic population and embrace of collective bargaining rights, the backing of a union can provide certain candidates with a real boost among its ranks and beyond.
And because they overwhelmingly support Democrats, labor's influence, analysts say, is often greatest in contested primaries. This year, Democrats expect no more than 700,000 voters to decide who advances to November's general election.
The state's two most prized endorsements come from the statewide AFL-CIO, an umbrella group that claims about 292,000 Maryland members, and from the Maryland State Teachers Association, which represents roughly 65,000 educators in every Maryland jurisdiction except Baltimore. In Maryland's contest for an open Senate seat, the two factions are pitted against one another: The AFL-CIO has backed Cardin, while the teachers are supporting Mfume, a former congressman and NAACP leader.
Union backing can be particularly helpful for statewide candidates, including Mfume and attorney general hopeful Stuart O. Simms (D), who are running against opponents with far more campaign cash.
With organizations and volunteers to tap in every county in Maryland, the teachers group represents "a huge blanket of coverage around the state that if you had to pay for, it would be an awful lot of money," Mfume said.
The endorsements also offer candidates a less tangible benefit: A stamp of approval in an election where the concerns of working families are front and center.
"Labor gives me credibility on these issues, which is what will help me with turnout," Cardin said.
In practical terms, the AFL-CIO's support has meant union members going door-to-door and sending mailers to get the word out to their members about Cardin, as well as help with erecting 8-by-4-foot red-and-blue signs across the state.
The teachers, meanwhile, have hosted recent "meet-and-greets" for Mfume and coordinated forums featuring the candidate as he talks about the federal No Child Left Behind law. Mfume was showcased at a meeting of Prince George's County teachers last week.
Members of the association have also been encouraged to volunteer for phone banks, door-to-door canvassing and sign-wavings at busy intersections.
The teachers are distributing the list of their choices far beyond their own members. A spokesman for the organization said that "hundreds of thousands" of the sample ballots with apple logos have been sent out-- more than 160,000 in Montgomery County alone.
In Maryland's other marquee race, the gubernatorial contest, some analysts say the teachers' endorsement has helped Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) combat criticism from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) about his city's low-performing schools.
O'Malley chose to announce some education initiatives last week at the headquarters of the Baltimore County teachers' association to underscore that support. His backdrop, which appeared in television coverage of the event, included several "Teacher Recommended" stickers that the statewide association has produced.
The stickers are also starting to show up on some yard signs of candidates across the state.
O'Malley, who became the Democrat's presumptive nominee in June after Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan withdrew from the race, is also reaping the benefits of the AFL-CIO endorsement. Union leaders say their desire to replace Ehrlich, whom they see as hostile to their interests, has emboldened their efforts.
Frank "Buddy" Howard was among the other early arrivals at last week's labor rally in Baltimore. The retired tin mill worker was clad in a T-shirt that resembled a homemade quilt, with different patches made from logos of labor-endorsed candidates, including Cardin and O'Malley.
His volunteer efforts in recent weeks included posting yard signs, along with about 30 other union members. "For O'Malley alone, we've put up almost a thousand," Howard said.
In past years, such elbow grease has been indispensable.
"There are several victorious Maryland candidates who would not have been successful without grass-roots labor support," said Barry Ruben, a former campaign aide and administration official under Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D). Among those Ruben counts in that category are his former boss, who in 1994 emerged from a Democratic primary field after securing the endorsement of the statewide AFL-CIO.
The candidates with the most to gain might be those with the least of other resources.
Simms, a Baltimore lawyer, received a boost for his attorney general campaign last week when the AFL-CIO embraced his candidacy after the union's preferred candidate -- Montgomery County Council member Tom Perez -- was ousted from the race by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
Simms entered the final weeks of his campaign with about one-twentieth the cash of his Democratic rival, Douglas F. Gansler, the state's attorney in Montgomery. At the Baltimore rally last week, Simms was enthusiastically received after being introduced as "Brother Simms" by Fred Mason, the state AFL-CIO president.
Del. Peter Franchot (D-Montgomery), who polls show running third in the Democratic primary for comptroller, is hoping to parlay endorsements of both the AFL-CIO and the teachers' union into a surprise win Sept. 12.
"I have a campaign based on grass-roots turnout, and they define the grass roots of the Democratic Party," Franchot said.
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