After the Teamsters came out the other day, this isn't too big of a surprise. Sonny Nardi is in charge of Ohio's Teamster's "Drive" campaign.
Sonny Nardi, President of Teamsters’ Local 416, today endorsed Barack Obama for President, citing his 20-year record of standing up to special interests and fighting for economic fairness.
"Barack Obama began his career in public service helping to restore opportunity to a community that was devastated by a steel plant closing, and he has been fighting for economic fairness ever since," said Nardi. "The American Dream is getting out of reach for too many working families in Ohio, and we need a President who has stood up to special interests and fought for the middle class throughout their career. Barack Obama believes that unfair trade agreements like NAFTA were the wrong policies for American workers...
This is a huge deal. Sure, it's a superdelegate pickup for Barack, but more importantly, it will open the flood gates. Ohio superdelegates leaning for Clinton or Obama are going to be more likely to come out now, because Nardi just gave them cover.
In Ohio, prior to Nardi's endosement, only three of Ohio's 21 superdelegates had endorsed: Ted Strickland and Stephanie Tubbs Jones for Clinton, and David Wilhelm for Obama. Wilhelm changed his superdelegate residence to Ohio from Illinois the day he came out, so his endorsement didn't have that much of an impact on Ohio. No one legitimately viewed him as an Ohio superdelegate. However, Nadi is and has always been viewed very much as an Ohio super. His endorsement really is the first legitimate Ohio Superdelegate to break for Obama - despite Ted Strickland's pressure.
Expect to see more Ohio superdelegates breaking soon. And for an update, here's by view of where folks probably stand privately.
Clinton: 8
Obama: 8
Tossup: 5
The Breakdown:
* signifies the Ohio Superdelegate has actually endorsed
If there's no asterisk next to someone's name, that means they have not endorsed and my evaluation is purely speculative, garned from conversations with folks close to them, Ohio political insiders, and other information.
Obama: Sonny Nardi*, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan, Zack Space**, Mark Mallory, Joyce Beatty, Charlie Wilson, David Wilhelm*
Clinton: Ted Strickland*, Stephanie Tubbs Jones*, Ron Malone, Pat Moss, Enid Goubeaux, Bill Burga, Marcy Kaptur, Betty Sutton,
Tossup: Chris Redfern, Redfern Lackey #1, Lackey #2, Sherrod Brown, Rhine McLin
**Congressman Space's office has informed me that he is not leaning either way and still very much on the fence. While I believe his staffers, I have some other information that's lead me to believe he leans towards Obama.
For more BSB Ohio superdelegate analysis, check out this comprehensive view of our super's.