In a dramatic turn of events, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was rejected by the Florida AFL-CIO last Sunday, June 12^th in Orlando, Florida.

This set-back for Wasserman Schultz comes just weeks after a controversial action by the Broward County Central Labor Council (CLC), which recommended an endorsement of the six-term congresswoman without providing notice to union delegates or any screening of the candidates in the race.  The Broward CLC decision also defied a national AFL-CIO advisory that there would be no AFL-CIO endorsement for any of the 28 Democrats who had voted to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and Wasserman Schultz’s name is at the top of that list.

Tim Canova, running against Wasserman Schultz in the August 30^th Democratic primary, spoke out publicly and often against the CLC action, including on numerous national cable TV programs on Fox News and MSNBC.

Canova also sent a sharp letter of protest to Daniel Reynolds, the president of the Broward CLC, who also hosted a $500 to $5000 a bagel breakfast for Wasserman Schultz and unelected superdelegates.  The Canova campaign countered with its own competing Free Bagels breakfast for constituents in Florida’s 23^rd Congressional District.  No superdelegates were invited.

In attracting widespread labor support, Canova has pointed to Wasserman Schultz’s vote to fast-track the TPP, as well as her support for predatory payday lenders, private for-profit prisons, and other big corporate and Wall Street interests.  Canova has received endorsements from locals and international unions, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the National Nurses United (NNU), the Transport Workers Union local 568, and the Pipefitters local 725. 

The June 12^th meeting in Orlando was part of the Florida AFL-CIO’s endorsement conference for candidates in races for all kinds of offices in Florida.  Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, was in attendance.  So was Wasserman Schultz, who flew in from a campaign event in Broward County.  She essentially challenged the AFL-CIO national leadership in her bid for an endorsement, providing the main drama of the entire conference.

At the meeting, the Wasserman Schultz endorsement was separated from the slate of endorsements recommended by the Broward CLC and was taken up at the end of the conference.  Delegates from several major unions – including the CWA and NNU -- spoke out against Wasserman Schultz for her pro-corporate votes and policies, both as a congresswoman and as chair of the DNC. 

According to a tweet by Rich Templin, the legislative and political director of the Florida AFL-CIO, delegates were concerned by her vote to fast-track the TPP and her role in pushing the Democratic Party to the right. 

This was the first time Wasserman Schultz failed to receive an endorsement from the AFL-CIO in her two-decade career as an elected official.

At about the same time, the Tim Canova for Congress passed a fundraising milestone, raising more than $2 million in small individual contributions in little more than 5 months of campaigning.

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