A little tip for those still holding out the possibility that AFSCME Council 5, the big state employees union that endorsed DFL endorsement-bucker Mark Dayton, will try to get state delegates to back "no endorsement" -- it is time to drop the idea.
Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, said Friday that union staffers "formally will not be at the convention." Seide wont be there; Political director Jim Niland won't be there; spokeswoman Jennifer Munt won't be there, he said.
"We don't want any perception that, in any way, we are trying to affect the outcome," Seide said.
Dayton is foregoing the DFL convention and will run in a primary against whomever the party endorses. DFLers Matt Entenza and Susan Gaertner will also run in a primary even if they don't get endorsed. The rest of the high-profile DFL candidates have pledged to drop out if they don't get the party nod at the Duluth convention in two weeks.
