Sen. Michael Bennet was the only Democrat in Colorado not to be endorsed by the largest union in the state.
The incumbent will not have the help of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) this fall, as the union’s 130,000 members voted to not support the candidate over his positions on trade.
The Denver Post called the move a "surprising rebuke."
Bennet was the only Democratic lawmaker in Colorado’s congressional delegation who failed to gain the support of the state’s AFL-CIO chapter. The group on Saturday endorsed Democratic U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis at its meeting in Stapleton, as well as Democratic congressional candidates Gail Schwartz, Bob Seay and Morgan Carroll.
Sam Gilchrist, executive director of the Colorado AFL-CIO, said the vote on Bennet was close, but that he fell short of the required two-thirds majority needed for an endorsement because too many union members were unhappy with Bennet’s support of a measure last year that gives the White House more power to cut international trade deals.
Bennet has already come under fire from Democrats for his support for Hillary Clinton and was drowned out by booing Bernie Sanders supporters during the state convention last month.
The Denver Post noted that not being endorsed means the AFL-CIO will not "mobilize its members in support of Bennet," nor will he have funding support from the group’s super PAC.
"We won’t be putting resources in races we don’t endorse," said Gilchrist, the group’s executive director in Colorado.
The AFL-CIO’s super PAC spent $383,817 in Colorado in 2014, when the group supported Mark Udall in his failed reelection bid.