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Dems—and Crist—swarm Hillsborough Labor Day events

Posted Sep 6, 2010 by William March

Updated Sep 6, 2010 at 06:52 PM

Florida Democratic candidates swarming two major Labor Day events in East Hillsborough County Monday had some unusual company—Gov. Charlie Crist.

Alex Sink (governor), Kendrick Meek (Senate), Dan Gelber (attorney general), and Scott Maddox (agriculture commissioner) were among those spotted at the traditional AFL-CIO barbecue at Lupton’s Boggy Bottom Ranch—and that’s probably leaving out a few.

A couple of highlights:

—From Sink’s speech: “I’m running against someone who also brings business experience to this race, but not the right kind. We care about the character of our governor.”

—Gelber on Sarah Palin’s endorsement of his Republican opponent, Pam Bondi: “The attorney general’s office is not the place for hyperpartisanship.”

—Mike Williams, AFL-CIO president: “There are some naysayers out there saying some of our candidates can’t win”—he meant Meek. “Naysayers said he couldn’t beat $1 billion”—meaning Jeff Greene—“and he did.”

Meanwhile, the Teamsters and Plumbers and Pipefitters, both of whom have endorsed Crist, had their own event near Dover, and Crist appeared, along with others including Lori Edwards (U.S. House), Linda Saul-Sena (county commission), Stacy Frank and Bill Heller (both state House), and that probably also leaves some out.

Crist said he’s no stranger to labor events, although as a former Republican, he hasn’t been a regular like the Democrats. Asked whether he’s ever had a union endorsement before, he was able to mention only two examples: law enforcement unions, which often endorse Republicans unlike trade unions, and the Florida Carpenters Regional Council, which backed him for governor in 2006.

The carpenters aren’t affiliated with the Dem-leaning AFL-CIO. The Teamsters split with the AFL-CIO in 2005, but the Plumbers and Pipefitters are still with the big umbrella labor group.

Teamsters organizer Randy Pines of Tampa, acknowledging he and most of his members are Democrats, on why they’re backing Crist instead of Meek: “Kendrick Meek’s a fine man, but we need somebody to break the party gridlock, somebody who will vote for us.”