50,000 Working People of SEIU Endorse Jeff Merkley for U.S. Senate

Largest, Most Progressive Labor Union Adds to Merkley's Grassroots Strength

PORTLAND - More than 50,000 health care workers, home care workers, nursing home workers, university staff, child care providers, and state employees from all across Oregon today endorsed Jeff Merkley's campaign for U.S. Senate. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of Oregon, who endorsed Barack Obama's Presidential campaign last month, is the largest, most progressive labor union in the state and brings unparalleled grassroots strength to Jeff Merkley's campaign.

SEIU recognized Jeff's commitment to taking on special interests and delivering affordable, quality health care for every single American. SEIU has launched a national effort to provide health care to every American and endorse candidates who make health care a top priority.

Jeff has worked with the men and women of SEIU to end the price gouging of the uninsured; to ensure that homecare and childcare workers have quality health care and fair wages; to make health insurance more affordable by forcing insurance companies to get approval before they raise our rates; and to improve the quality of child care and senior care services in Oregon.

"Widely seen as the nation's most politically active union," according to The New York Times, SEIU won 70 percent of competitive races in 2006. During the last Presidential race, SEIU registered over 4 million new voters and its members knocked on 10 million doors.

"Jeff Merkley and Barack Obama are the best candidates to defeat the Republican establishment and win in November," said Arthur Towers, Political Director of SEIU Local 503. "Jeff has been on the frontline in Oregon fighting the same special interests that control Washington D.C. He understands the challenges working people face and is building a campaign organization that can defeat Gordon Smith. We need a proven winner in the U.S. Senate - someone who is ready to go to the mat for working people and do what's right for Oregon."

"I am honored to have the support of thousands of home care workers, nursing home workers, university staff, child care providers, and state employees from all across Oregon," said Jeff Merkley. "The men and women of SEIU understand that our nation faces serious challenges and now more than ever we need to unite to defeat Gordon Smith and the policies of George Bush. Oregon is ready to defeat Gordon Smith and I am ready to win."

More than 200,000 working men and women from 12 different labor unions have endorsed Jeff Merkley's campaign. Jeff's campaign has also been endorsed by Governor Ted Kulongoski, Governor Barbara Roberts, 4 other statewide office holders, 15 Oregon mayors, 42 state lawmakers, and teachers, farmers, veterans, and health care workers across Oregon.

Jeff Merkley spent his early years in rural communities where the children of loggers and mill workers learned the value of honest work, good neighbors, and strong families. Jeff earned scholarships and became the first in his family to go to college. To stop nuclear proliferation, he went on to serve as a national security analyst, first for the Pentagon and then for Congress. After returning to Oregon with his wife Mary, Jeff led Habitat for Humanity and worked with low-income families to rebuild neighborhoods and purchase their first home.

Eighteen months ago, Jeff led a band of progressives to take control of the Oregon House and became the first Democratic speaker in sixteen years. The Register-Guard called Jeff's session as speaker "one of the most productive in decades." He fought special interests to make health care more affordable, clamped down on pay day loan scams, and created thousands of family-supporting jobs in Oregon.

Today, Speaker Merkley lives in East Multnomah County with Mary and their two children, Jonathan age eleven and Brynne age ten.

Posted March 10, 2008
Endorsements, Press