Knutson was widely expected to face off against two other challengers for the post: Bill McCarthy, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, and Mary Kathryn Ricker, head of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers. But only McCarthy and Knutson were ultimately nominated, with the latter prevailing on the first ballot.
The decision [...] was made by the AFL-CIO’s 70-member general board. The labor federation represents roughly 300,000 workers across the state.
Knutson says playing a role in the 2010 governor’s race will be a priority for the organization. She does not expect there to be any lingering hard feelings within the federation from the contested election.
“I wish to work with all the unions and all the board members and have reached out to them,” she says. “There are times when we may not always agree but we come together.”
"Come Together" was a better Beatles song than "Helter Skelter" unless you're Charlie Manson, but will it be more one than the other among DFL union poobahs until after endorsement dust has fully settled? Will there be anything even remotely resembling unified spending and giving before then, or each bloc having its bloc favorite(s)?
The Iron Ranger unions, we can guess, yet otherwise it was a leadership council of seventy individuals that selected Knutson and that's seventy independent views of who'd be the best Governor, and who'd be the best candidate against the GOP's best and brightest, such as that low bar level will prove to be?