Cleveland Plain Dealer: UAW Supports Hackett Over Brown in U.S. Senate Race

By Stephen Koff

Paul Hackett, the U.S. Senate candidate drawing attention for his blunt talk and Iraq war record, has won an important early endorsement from labor.

The United Auto Workers Union voted Friday to endorse Hackett over Sherrod Brown, the U.S. House member whose long political service and early financial advantage had been seen as advantageous.

Hackett, a Cincinnati attorney and Marine Reserves major, and Brown, a seven-term congressman and former Ohio secretary of state, are vying in the May primary for the right to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine in November.

Brown has a strong pro-labor record, which is why the endorsement from one of Ohio’s largest unions, with 150,000 active and retired members, was seen by some as a blow.

“Sherrod Brown has been 100 percent on all union issues, he is always there with us,” said Cincinnati AFL-CIO chief Dan Radford, calling himself stunned by the UAW’s action.

But Lloyd Mahaffey, Ohio regional director of the UAW, said the union endorsed Hackett “because we thought he had a better chance of winning the November election.”

When Hackett was narrowly defeated in a special U.S. House election in southwest Ohio last summer, Mahaffey said, “he was able to get support from Republicans and Independents, and groups of people that we haven’t been able to get to support our candidates in the past.”

Hackett and Brown have similar views on most issues, other than gun rights, which Hackett supports. But Hackett has “got some charisma. He really connects with voters,” Mahaffey said.

The union’s councils and at-large representatives voted 26-1 to endorse Hackett, with Brown, of Avon, receiving his sole support from his home turf, union members said. A Ford plant in Brown’s House district produced its last vehicle - an Econoline van - on Wednesday, and more than 750 workers there are losing their jobs with the closing.

Brown said on Friday that the auto workers across the state will support him at the polls, regardless of their union’s endorsement.

“I predict with absolute certainty that I will get the overwhelming majority of UAW members’ votes, both in May and in November, and I will continue to fight for working families, and union members and non-union members, as a U.S. senator.”

Dennis Lieberman, the Montgomery County Democratic chairman vying to become state party chairman, said the endorsement will give Hackett momentum in the race.

But he noted that many other endorsements are still to come, and Brown is likely to get his share.

Hackett spokesman Karl Frisch called the UAW endorsement “a tremendous sign of support.”

“Obviously there is a large group of folks in the state who believe that Paul will represent them effectively and will stand up for the needs and rights of working families throughout Ohio,” Frisch said.

Plain Dealer reporters Elizabeth Auster and Bill Sloat contributed to this article.

December 17, 2005 | Filed Under Hackett, News Mentions 

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