Update | 4:18 p.m. Quinn's campaign has released a statement on today's AFL-CIO vote:
As a former member of the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Governor Quinn is honored by the support he has received from organized labor. To date, Governor Quinn’s campaign has received endorsements the Service Employees International Union, the United Auto Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 25 and several other major unions. Together, the labor groups that have endorsed Governor Quinn represent more than 450,000 hard-working men and women.
Union leaders have praised Governor Pat Quinn’s vision of economic development and his effective leadership in passing Jobs and Growth for Illinois, the state’s first comprehensive public works program in more than a decade. Over the next six years, Illinois Jobs Now! will create and retain more than 439,000 jobs, helping to revive Illinois’ economy.
Throughout his entire career, Governor Quinn has been proud to stand with organized labor, walking picket lines and speaking out when workers’ rights to health coverage, decent work conditions, and fair compensation have been threatened or unfairly taken away.
Original post: For Dan Hynes' campaign, the silence speaks volumes.
The Illinois AFL-CIO today chose not to make an endorsement in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, snubbing Gov. Pat Quinn as the federation of Illinois labor organizations voted 58-42 in favor of challenger and Illinois Comptroller Hynes.
This afternoon's announcement from Hynes' campaign calls the vote "a major rebuke" to a sitting Democratic governor. The blow comes despite Quinn's many mentions of his support for a state jobs program and his help passing a capital bill.
"Make no mistake," Hynes spokesman Matt McGrath said in a statement. "This is a direct reflection of the governor’s lack of leadership and inability to create jobs. No matter how many ribbon cuttings Pat Quinn attends and takes credit for, the working men and women who actually build and repair our communities and infrastructure clearly know better."
Quinn spokeswoman Elizabeth Austin said she was working on a response to the Hynes' campaign's statement, and I'll update this post as soon as I receive it.
Beth Spencer, spokeswoman for the Illinois AFL-CIO, explained that candidates need two-thirds of the delegate vote to earn an endorsement. Neither Hynes nor Quinn passed that threshold.
"Both of these candidates in their careers have been very helpful to working families," Spencer told me.
She did not immediately recall if the AFL-CIO has previously abstained from endorsing a sitting Democratic governor.
The group did endorse state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in the U.S. Senate race for President Barack Obama's former seat.
Last week, Hynes released his "Clean Start for Illinois" jobs plan, a proposal that would shift many of the state's manufacturing and industrial jobs to environmentally friendly work. Quinn has backed similar proposals.
Yet Quinn, a longtime labor advocate, lagged behind Hynes in the number of labor endorsements as of last week, even before Hynes picked up support from the Illinois Federation of Teachers yesterday.
According to their spokespeople, the lists of labor-related endorsements are as follows.
For Quinn:
For Hynes:
Windy Citizen 