Labor's Love Lost?
ShareRep. Melissa Bean (D-IL 08) alienated many labor supporters when she voted for CAFTA last fall. Now she's hoping unions, which comprised 49 percent of her PAC money last cycle, don't prevent her re-election. Several unions are considering withholding their support for her in '06. The Teamsters have talked with GOP candidate David McSweeney (R) and are considering helping a third party candidate, Bill Scheurer. While labor voters aren't a sizable constituency in the affluent district, she'll need to turn out the Dem base to win one of the state's most pro-Bush districts.
Many of the same labor groups irked by Bean's voting record are also lukewarm about DCCC Chmn Rahm Emanuel's recruitment of Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth (D) to run next door in IL 06. If Duckworth is the nominee, she'll face state Sen Peter Roskam (R), who has worked with unions during his tenure in the state legislature. It would be ironic if labor's lack of enthusiasm for these Dems helped tip these seats to the GOP. If that happened, the first political casualties of last year's labor split could be IL Dems. [JOSH KRAUSHAAR]
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