By Gregory L. Giroux
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 18

Delegates: 157

Chairman: Mark Brewer

Hotel: Wyndham at Los Angeles Airport (310) 670-9000

1996 Election:
Clinton – 52%
Dole – 39%
Perot – 9%

One of Vice President Al Gore's biggest challenges in his campaign for president is to solidify the support of labor union activists, many of whom are upset with the Clinton administration's support of the NAFTA and GATT trade measures and, more recently, legislation to make permanent normal trade relations with China.

And nowhere does Gore require a united front from labor more than in Michigan, an industrial "swing" state that voted for Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 but had gone Republican in the five previous presidential elections.

The 157-member delegation to this year's Democratic National Convention includes the leaders of two prominent unions - the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Teamsters - that, as of late July, had declined to endorse Gore.

UAW President Stephen P. Yokich, a member of the Democratic National Committee, made a splash with his announcement in May that the UAW would consider endorsing a candidate other than Gore.

In his statement, Yokich said that Gore's support of the China deal left the UAW with "no choice but to actively explore alternatives to the two major political parties," including Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

The Detroit-based UAW has a huge constituency in Michigan. About 300,000 active workers and 150,000 retirees in Michigan are UAW members, spokesman Paul Krell said.

Aware of the group's heavy presence in a battleground state, Michigan Republicans constantly remind voters that in his 1992 book on the environment, "Earth in the Balance" Gore supported the eventual elimination of the internal combustion engine that powers most automobiles.

Meanwhile, Teamsters Union President James P. Hoffa is also taking a stand-off approach to Gore. Although Hoffa, the son of legendary Teamsters leader James R. Hoffa, was selected in May as a Michigan delegate to the Democratic convention, he has been publicly cultivating political ties outside the party.

In June, Hoffa appeared at a press conference with Nader and called for the inclusion of Nader and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, a hardline conservative who is also a free-trade opponent, in the presidential debates this fall.

At the Republican convention in Philadelphia that preceded the Democratic event by two weeks, Hoffa attended and was honored at a reception hosted by Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson.

For the most part, though, Michigan delegates are solidly behind Gore, who took 84 percent of the vote in the Democratic caucuses held on March 11 - four days after his multi-state primary sweep forced his sole rival, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, from the race.

Of the state's 129 "pledged" delegates to the convention, all but nine are committed to Gore.

Chairing the delegation is state Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, who also headed the Michigan contingent to the 1996 convention in Chicago.

Four-term U.S. Sen. Carl Levin is a delegate, as is his older brother, U.S. Rep. Sander M. Levin. Jim Blanchard, a former Michigan governor and U.S. ambassador to Canada, also will be attending as a delegate.

The delegation also includes House Minority Whip David E. Bonior and Commerce Committee ranking Democrat John D. Dingell, who, with his 45 years in the House, is the chamber's most senior member. Dingell's wife, Deborah, president of the General Motors Foundation, also is a delegate.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow, who is challenging Republican Sen. Spencer Abraham in one of the nation's highest-profile races, and Rep. Bart Stupak, who has an aggressive Republican challenger in state Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob, are delegates.

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, one of three general co-chairmen of the Democratic National Committee, is a delegate, as are four state senators: Democratic leader John Cherry; Alma Wheeler Smith, an African-American from Ann Arbor; Gary Peters, who may run for statewide office in 2002; and Ken J. DeBeaussaert.

State party officials said they surpassed their diversity goals. Their contingent includes 46 African-Americans (above the national party-set goal of 39); seven Arab-Americans (above the goal of six); and four Hispanics (above the goal of two).

The most prominent African-American delegates are Archer and Joel Ferguson, a real estate developer and television station owner who has attended every Democratic convention since 1972. Ferguson engineered civil rights activist Jesse Jackson's stunning victory over Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in the 1988 Michigan Democratic caucuses. Freman Hendrix, another black delegate, is chairman of the Detroit Board of Education.

The Michigan Democratic Party declined to provide Congressional Quarterly with a list of delegates.

MICHIGAN NOTABLES: State Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, the delegation chairman; U.S. Sen. Carl Levin; U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell, the dean of the House; House Minority Whip David E. Bonior; U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow, who this year is challenging Republican Sen. Spencer Abraham; U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the senior African-American member of Congress; former Gov. James Blanchard; state Senate Minority Leader John Cherry Jr.; Teamsters Union President James P. Hoffa; United Auto Workers President Stephen P. Yokich; real estate developer and television station owner Joel Ferguson; General Motors Foundation President Deborah Dingell (wife of Rep. Dingell).