Locke, Rinehart Endorsed By Union

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Gary Locke and Nita Rinehart have received dual endorsements by the state’s largest employee union.

The endorsements by the Washington Federation of State Employees on Saturday was a hard choice since all four candidates, including Seattle Mayor Norm Rice and former congressman Jay Inslee, have been helpful to labor, said federation president Howard Jorgenson.

Each candidate was given five minutes Saturday to make a pitch to the 100 union delegates from across the state gathered at a SeaTac hotel.

All four supported granting state workers the right to bargain collectively for wages and benefits. All frowned on giving private companies work now done by state employees. All said they valued state workers and would work to boost the general public’s view of civil servants.

Neither Rinehart nor Locke had enough support to win a sole endorsement although each had enough votes to prevent anyone else from winning the two-thirds necessary for an endorsement.

The endorsement means that Rinehart, current chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and King County Executive Locke have the advantage of winning the support of the Washington State Labor Council of the AFL-CIO on May 11.