Democrat Patrick Murphy gets another union nod
Jupiter U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy was endorsed Friday by a construction industry union in his campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination to fill the seat being vacated by Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio.
Murphy, squaring off against U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, who is a favorite of the Democrats’ progressive wing, is building up union backing with the Laborers’ International Union of North America the latest to come on board.
“LIUNA is proud to endorse Patrick because he supports our working families and we believe that his commonsense approach to leadership is exactly what Florida needs right now,” said Glenn Farner, business manager of the union’s southeast district council.
“Time and again, Patrick has proven that he will fight to protect our workers’ rights, fight for their hard-earned, high-quality union health benefits, and fight to raise the minimum wage.”
Murphy has already been endorsed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Florida Teamsters and the Florida Association of Retired Americans, a labor-backed retiree organization.
Murphy said, ““Our middle class was built by strong unions, and they remain the most committed supporters of working families across Florida and across our country.”
Murphy’s union scoop-up emerges even though the congressman’s roots are in the construction industry’s management side. His father is the millionaire owner of Coastal Construction, a prominent building firm, and the lawmaker is a former Republican whose voting record is moderate to conservative on many labor issues.
Grayson dismisses him as an “errand boy for Wall Street.”
Leading Republicans in the race are Pinellas County U.S. Rep. David Jolly, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis of Ponte Vedra Beach and Todd Wilcox of Orlando.
