The United Mine Workers union has endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman for re-election over former Gov. Ted Strickland, the Portman campaign said today, making southeastern Ohio even more of a battleground in the upcoming U.S. Senate election.
The endorsement came from the National Council of Coal Miners Political Action Committee.
“The Mine Workers endorsement is an important recognition of Rob Portman’s leadership protecting Ohio’s coal jobs, and comes as a major blow to Ted Strickland who was endorsed by COMPAC in 2006 and 2010 while running for Governor,” the Portman campaign said in its announcement of the endorsement.
Mr. Strickland is allied with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who recently predicted the elimination of mining jobs and mining companies.
International Secretary-Treasurer Daniel Kane said in a letter to Mr. Portman, ”Your strong voice in support of our members is an inspiration to us all. We will be actively working among our membership and our communities to inform working and retired Ohioans of our support for you in this year’s election.”
The dispute over the future of coal-mining jobs will be a major issue in southeastern Ohio and will potentially cut into support for Mr. Strickland, who is from the area and who represented the area in Congress.
“Even though coal is a proven source of relatively inexpensive energy that supports thousands of jobs across Ohio, and even though Ohio relies on coal for approximately 70 percent of our electricity, Ted worked on behalf of a liberal special interest group in Washington that is dedicated to ending coal jobs,” Portman’s prepared statement said.
Mr. Strickland was president of the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund in 2014 until early 2015.
The Strickland campaign responded with statements from Appalachian-area elected officials, who said Mr. Strickland is the better representative of the region.
Doug Davis, Democratic mayor of the village of Trimble, Athens County, said, “I believe the UMWA’s decision is deeply misguided. It reflects the concerns of groups and interests outside of Appalachia that are ultimately not in our best interest.”
He said that, “Ted is from here, he’s spent his life fighting for our working families and he’ll stand up for us in the U.S. Senate. Senator Portman has no idea what life is like in our community, and in Congress he’s pushing the agenda of the D.C power brokers and wealthy special interests he serves while working people are paying the price.”
The Strickland campaign cited votes by Mr. Portman as a senator to cut funding for mine safety and repeal legislation expanding access to black lung benefits for miners and their families. It says he took a $1,000 donation from Don Blankenship, former chief executive officer of Massey Energy, who was convicted of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards, and $2,400 from Richard Whiting, CEO Of Patriot Coal, “who fought to protect millions in bonuses to mining executives while cutting pensions for mine workers.”
The Portman campaign pointed out that in addition to endorsing Mr. Strickland in 2006 and 2010, the United Mine Workers political arm endorsed U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D. Ohio) in 2012, and nine other Democratic Senate candidates in 2012 and 2014.
The Portman campaign said that Mr. Strickland has refused to denounce Mrs. Clinton’s comments that, if elected, “we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
The Portman campaign also cited a statement by the coal industry association that Mr. Strickland has gotten behind “radical anti-coal policies that could kill 53,000 Ohio jobs, lower access to affordable energy, and threaten grid reliability.”
In March, 2015, after Mr. Strickland resigned, the Center for American Progress strongly endorsed the Obama administration’s plan to establish carbon-pollution standards for power plants that would likely further reduce demand for coal.
Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.
First Published June 2, 2016, 5:33 p.m.
