The State AFL-CIO yesterday endorsed Governor Patrick, despite a series of public squabbles between the Governor and organized labor. The Governor has had disagreements with labor over police details, Quinn bill funding, and very notably the casino bill, which recently stalled on Beacon Hill. Despite those public disagreements, and despite Tim Cahill taking some very pointedly pro-union stands, the Governor won the AFL-CIO endorsement. From the State House News Service:

“Elections are about electing the best candidate and standing up for a set of values,” state AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes, who boasts of 400,000 members, said in a statement. “Deval Patrick is the best candidate because of his values. It has been loud and clear that unions and the families we represent have not agreed with Governor Patrick on everything. But we want to be even louder and crystal clear that we agree with him on the important things, chief among them the values we share about the role of government.”

The endorsement will help the Governor with troops and money, and that is a good thing for him. But the rank and file, as noted in the State House News article, do not blindly follow leadership. Union households (at 49%) gave Scott Brown some pretty big support. And labor is not in a real good political position these days. Republican Charlie Baker will (and has) accused the Governor of being in the political debt of “union bosses”. The ad posted here does just that, and it was released before the announcement by the AFL.