The giant union of government workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is lengthening its lead as the biggest spender in the midterm elections, reaching a total of $91 million, its president, Gerald W. McEntee, said on Tuesday.þþMr. McEntee said in an interview that his union had spent an additional $4 million over the last week, on campaigns in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere, increasing its lead over the second-largest spender in this year’s campaign, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has said it plans to spend $75 million on the midterm elections.þþ“I’m proud of the fact that we spend more than the chamber,” Mr. McEntee said in a telephone interview as he was heading to a rally in Philadelphia to promote the Democratic candidates for Senate and governor there. “The chamber isn’t to benefit workers. It’s to benefit business. The chamber worked hard for the deregulation of Wall Street — that didn’t help middle-class people. In fact, it hurt them.”þAfter The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Mr. McEntee’s union was the largest campaign spender, several union officials sought to clarify its spending. One official said that the union, which has more than 1.4 million members, had spent $66 million on the campaign this year, as of last week, and $21 million last year. That meant, he said, that the chamber would still be No. 1 in spending this year — although the union would be largest over the two-year election cycle.þþMr. McEntee, who is also chairman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s political committee, said that government workers would be hurt and would face a greater risk of layoffs if the Republicans win control of the House — and perhaps the Senate. Mr. McEntee praised President Obama and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate for enacting a $26 billion aid package in August that provided state and local governments with money to help save the jobs of teachers, police officer, firefighters and other public employees.þþ“I don’t think that will happen under Boehner,” Mr. McEntee said, referring to Representative John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is likely to become speaker of the House if the Republicans win control. “That’s why we’re fighting. As long as the Democrats have the House and the Senate, we’ll still have an opportunity to get some relief from the federal government. That helps not just public employees, it helps the whole middle class.”þþOfficials with the Chamber of Commerce have said that the union’s large-scale spending undercuts their claim that spending by business was overwhelming the campaign.þþMr. McEntee said that some of the $4 million spent in the last week paid for broadcast spots in Youngstown, Ohio, where the union saw a hole in the Democrats’ advertising efforts.þþLarry Scanlon, the union’s political director, said some of the money also went to Senate races in Pennsylvania and Colorado, and regular contributions for governors’ races in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.þþ“It’s the final push on independent expenditures and on get-out-the-vote,” Mr. Scanlon said. “It’s all hands on deck.”þþ
Source: NY Times
