The Daily Politics/Daily News
Albany, NY
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/05/dp-exclu-schneiderman-picks-up.html
By Celeste Katz
Democratic AG hopeful state Sen. Eric Schneiderman has picked up the endorsment of the 50,000 active and retired member United Auto Workers Regions 9 and 9a, the Daily Politics has learned.
“The UAW is proud to endorse a lifelong progressive leader like Eric Schneiderman. Eric’s commitment to working families and long record of delivering results makes him the clear choice to be our next Attorney General,” says Bob Madore, UAW Region 9A Director.
“The UAW, another major affiliate of the Working Families Party, cited Eric Schneiderman’s dedication to public service and long record of accomplishments for working families. Schneiderman took on the insurance companies on behalf of patients, increased the minimum wage, fought for fair funding for public schools, held the MTA accountable to taxpayers and the riding public and ended the draconian Rockefeller drug laws that devastated communities across this state for decades.”
You can read the rest of the release after the jump, but as an insider tried to spin it, “with UAW, 1199/SEIU, 32BJ and Citizen Action, the WFP contest is shaping up for Schneiderman.”
It remains to be seen what goes down at the DSC, but the buzz is three AG candidates (Kathleen Rice, Schneiderman and Richard Brodsky) may all make it on the ballot.
Schneiderman, by the way, now actually has a REAL campaign website (what the hell took so long, I have no idea) and a Twitter feed.
“I am so honored to receive the support of the UAW, a union that has broken new ground for workers in this city and state for decades,” said Eric Schneiderman, a lifelong progressive Democrat. “The UAW has been on the front lines fighting for a brighter future for the working people of New York. As Attorney General, I will be a progressive champion for the working and middle class. I will fight to deliver equal justice for everyone – to make sure there is not one set of rules for the powerful and another for everyone else.”
UAW Region 9 Director Joe Ashton agrees with Madore, “with Senator Schneiderman fighting for us, the working people of this state will have a true champion on our side who has never backed down from a challenge. His progressive values are unwavering – we know that Eric Schneiderman is the best choice for Attorney General.”
A diverse membership in New York, UAW members include legal service and legal aid attorneys, manufacturing sector employees, auto workers, auto mechanics, adjunct professors, graduate students and other university employees, and technical, office, clerical and museum professionals.
With widespread support from a broad and diverse coalition of progressive New Yorkers and the unanimous endorsement of the state’s largest labor union, 1199/SEIU United Healthcare East and the largest private-sector union, 32BJ, and Citizen Action of New York, momentum is growing for Schneiderman’s campaign to be the state’s next Attorney General.
To date, Schneiderman has won the endorsement of over fifty federal, state and local elected officials including U.S. Representatives Jerry Nadler, Charles Rangel and Jose Serrano, Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a host of prominent community activists, and labor unions including the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association.
