Attacks Simplify Brown's Relationship With Unions
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Republican Meg Whitman is fond of portraying her opponent for governor as a puppet of labor.
She says Jerry Brown is a politician who has benefited from at least $20 million in union spending this year and criticizes him on the airwaves, at debates and in campaign fliers for doing their bidding.
Yet Brown's relationship with the unions and their role in this year's governor's race is more complicated than the former chief of eBay suggests.
There is no doubt the Democratic candidate has benefited from union support. But he often has voted against labor interests, and unions have campaigned against him in the past.
Whitman also does not advertise that she, too, has benefited from public employee unions representing law enforcement.
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