Labor loves Connie Chan for Congress. But labor's money may have missed the boat.

"Supervisor Connie Chan has always been labor's kind of candidate. She has walked picket lines as a San Francisco supervisor, and fought against cutting union jobs at City Hall as budget chair. She's pushed to increase minimum wages several times, and has become known among unions as valuing labor unity instead of exploiting its division for political gain."

"Her run for Congress has earned her a broad coalition of support from city unions, as well as umbrella groups like the San Francisco Labor Council, the San Francisco Building & Construction Trades Council and the California Federation of Labor Unions. She touts 35 union seals on her campaign endorsement page."

"But labor unions may be a dollar short and a day late in spending for their avowed champion, and Chan finds herself losing the money race. Unlike her rival Saikat Chakrabarti, who has pledged to spend as much of his own money as needed, Chan is not worth more than $100 million."

"Chan has pledged to reject corporate money, and to tax the billionaires who might otherwise fund her. Labor is the only realistic source of big money for her campaign. But unions have yet to shell out large sums, and have only started to spend recently. Chan is backed by at least $1.1 million, according to campaign filings and labor consultant David Ho, who said on May 11 about $650,000 of that was raised for a pro-Chan PAC, almost all from unions."

Connie Chan has a long record of supporting labor, including walking picket lines, opposing cuts to union jobs, and pushing for higher minimum wages. Her congressional run has attracted endorsements from multiple city and statewide labor organizations, with many union seals listed on her campaign. Despite this backing, her campaign is losing the money race because she lacks the large personal wealth and broad donor or third-party support available to her opponents. She has pledged to reject corporate money and tax billionaires, leaving labor as her main source of major funding. Labor spending has started only recently, and her reported backing totals about $1.1 million, with a portion raised through a pro-Chan PAC and the remainder from individual contributions that may be undercounted.

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