NPR: Vegas Union Members Will Wait to Endorse

Vegas Union Members Will Wait to Endorse

Nevada is one of the early voting states for the first time. (The caucuses are January 19.) And for Democratic presidential contenders, the most ardently sought endorsement in Nevada is from the Culinary Workers Local 226.

With about 60 thousand members, the union has a track record in turning out voters and winning elections. The Democratic candidates have been making pilgrimages to the union's Las Vegas headquarters in a dicey part of town known as Naked City. And as the union has battled with the major hotel-casino owners over new contracts, candidates have even pledged to walk the picket lines, if the union calls a strike.

But Local 226 is in no hurry to endorse, according to political director Pilar Weiss, who says the endorsement will come some time in early January, after the Iowa caucuses. Local 226 is part of a national union, UNITE/HERE and Weiss says that they have to consider the experiences of locals in different parts of the country.

Also, the opinions of Local 226 members have been changing. And they want to make sure whatever candidate they endorse has a real chance to win the nomination. "It's Nevada," says Weiss. "People are gamblers. They put their money down at the last minute when they know what the spread is."

- Ina Jaffe

4:17 PM ET | 12-10-2007 | permalink

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