To win the House or pick up a significant number of seats in both chambers of Congress, Democrats will have to battle traditional allies in the labor and environmental community to win targeted races. At least seven of the most vulnerable House GOP incumbents have been endorsed by unions, environmental activists or other Democratic-leaning advocacy groups. So have at least three of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans. Organized labor has also poured tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign accounts of highly vulnerable Republicans, in several instances surpassing the amount given to Democratic challengers.Rep. George Miller (Calif.), ranking Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, has disclosed that at least one of his House colleagues has said that, if Democrats fail to capture the House, labor will be partly to blame. Miller, a lawmaker close to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), shared that anecdote with labor officials, according to a union lobbyist, perhaps sending a subtle message of displeasure that Democrats know labor is hedging its bets.
Rep. John Sweeney (R), the DemocratsÂ’ No. 1 target in New York, has won the endorsement of the local affiliate of the LaborersÂ’ International Union of North America and of the Albany affiliate of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, SweeneyÂ’s campaign says. Union political action committees had given SweeneyÂ’s campaign $105,000 by the end of March, more than he had received from any other special interest. He received $10,000 contributions from the LaborersÂ’ Union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Association of Fire Fighters, according to politicalmoneyline.com, a website that tracks fundraising.