Phoenix's Democratic mayor faces re-election fight from the left

[Newsjock]

Source: Arizona Republic

One of the nation's largest public-sector employee unions is trying to field a candidate to give Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, a challenge from the left.

Local and national representatives of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have met with city politicians in hopes of finding a notable progressive willing to challenge Stanton in the Aug. 25 primary. The union has been at odds with the mayor over reforms to the city's pension system.

... Tensions between Stanton and AFSCME, whose local affiliates represent more than 3,000 city workers, boiled over last year during the campaign on Prop. 487, a ballot initiative that would have closed the pension system. The union was irate with Stanton for not pushing for ballot language they said described the measure's potential financial drawbacks. Stanton, however, fought the ultimately-failed initiative in other ways.

More recently, the union vented its frustration with the mayor after he appointed an ad hoc committee to study the pension issue and didn't include a representative from the city unions that would be affected.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2015/02/03/phoenix-mayor-stanton-faces-re-election-fight-left/22824905/

[merrily]

1. Unions promoting a more pro-pension candidate is not necessarily a "challenge from the left."

There are pro-union candidates who are rightist on other issues.

My own rep is an example. He has always been strongly pro-union, which is great. However, he was also perceived as anti-choice and anti gay, though I don't think he is rightfully perceived as that way now. (A run for a US Senate seat in Massachusetts, a re-districting and a gay cousin may have helped his thinking on those issues "evolve" leftward.)