Carlos Menchaca. (Photo: Facebook)

The influential 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers Union weighed in on two City Council races today, boosting Brooklyn's Carlos Menchaca and the Bronx's Ritchie Torres, in their bid for office this year.

“Carlos Menchaca has the background, experience, and judgment working people need in the City Council,” Kevin Finnegan, 1199's political director, said in a statement. “A product of Bronx public housing and Bronx public schools, Ritchie Torres reflects the community he is running to represent in City Hall," he said in another

Neither endorsement is a surprise--they come after the labor-backed Working Families Party backed the pair--but the Menchaca endorsement stands out as he's working to unseat an incumbent Democratic Councilwoman, Sara Gonzalez. It is relatively rare for labor unions to coalesce around candidates who are not incumbents--indeed, this appears to be the only race across the five boroughs where they have done so this year.

Asked about the powerhouse unions--including 32BJ SEIU--opposing her bid, Ms. Gonzalez brushed them off.

"I would say that there is a movement in the city and some people choose to do that. But, you know, I ran originally with no one--no unions," Ms. Gonzalez told Politicker outside of her campaign headquarters Saturday. "Everybody else had unions ... You know what? I'm not afraid. I've been out here all my life. Folks are going to do better because I'm here in office. And we're going to win."

On the other hand, Mr. Torres, just 25, is the front-runner in a crowded field to replace term-limited Councilman Joel Rivera. Mr. Torres, a staffer to Bronx Councilman James Vacca, has received a lion's share of the labor endorsements in the race, including the United Federation of Teachers and Hotel Trades Council.

Additional reporting by Colin Campbell

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's campaign for mayor got a significant boost Friday, with the endorsement of the city's largest union: 1199 SEIU.

It is the first major labor endorsement for Mr. de Blasio, who has been aggressively courting unions as he tries position himself as the "progressive alternative" to the race's early  front-runner, Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Mr. de Blasio's campaign manager, Bill Hyers, heralded the endorsement as proof the campaign is gaining momentum, despite concerns from many supporters about the entree of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is expected to appeal to the same outer-borough, ethnic voters, and is expected to formally join the race in the coming day.

"Game-changing is a cliché in politics, but not when it comes to the mayoral endorsement of 1199 SEIU. Representing more than 250,000 members over five boroughs, no endorsement means more than this," Mr. Hyers said in a statement.

"Their support validates our belief that Bill de Blasio is THE PROGRESSIVE CHOICE for New York City Democrats -- and it confirms the strength of our effort," he continued. "Moreover, their members are some of the most politically active residents of New York City, deeply connected to and active in our communities, and they have pledged to dedicate thousands of volunteer hours for door-to-door canvassing, phone banking and rallies for our campaign.  We are honored to have their support."

The endorsement is a partial loss for Ms. Quinn, who many believed could have a shot with the group because some of staffing overlaps--although others have long expected them to go with Mr. de Blasio.

Here's a statement from 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East president George Gresham:

“The nurses and caregivers of 1199SEIU – New York City’s largest union with over 200,000 members throughout the five boroughs – have enthusiastically endorsed Bill de Blasio for mayor, because he is a principled champion of working people, and has the strongest vision for the future of our city, including good jobs, affordable housing, and quality education and healthcare for all. Our members are some of the most politically active residents of the city, we are deeply connected to our communities, and we intend to devote thousands of volunteer hours to door knocking, phone banking and building support. The elected leaders of our union voted unanimously to endorse Bill de Blasio because he has consistently stood side-by-side with caregivers for quality healthcare and issues that matter most to working families, and we will work passionately to ensure he is our next mayor of New York City," he said.

(Photo: Getty)

Brooklyn State Senator Marty Golden may be a conservative Republican, but he can still rack up influential union endorsements as he campaigns for reelection against Democrat Andrew Gounardes. To wit, the 200,000 member union SEIU 1199 announced their endorsement of Mr. Golden this morning.

"He has written and passed many important pieces of legislation that have improved and protected the health and well-being of all New Yorkers," Kevin Finnegan, 1199's political director, said in a statement. "The members of New York’s largest health care workers union, 1199 SEIU, appreciate his efforts. We intend to work hard to see the Senator re-elected, so he can continue his outstanding work in Albany."

Of course, the union isn't a complete stranger to supporting Republicans. For example, 1199 notably cut a deal with former Governor George Pataki and is credited with being instrumental in the GOP pol's reelection efforts.

However, the 1199 announcement is the latest of several union endorsements for Mr. Golden, most notably the highly-organized Hotel Trades Council. In recent days and weeks, the incumbent has also rolled out a smaller stream of trades groups, uniformed labor and smaller chapters of larger organization, clearly an effort to show his strength among blue-collar voters.

For his part, Mr. Gounardes secured a number of Democratic labor staples for his campaign so far, and managed to mount an aggressive effort to stop the large AFL-CIO from going Mr. Golden's way.

The Senate Democrats have repeatedly said defeating Mr. Golden is one of their statewide priorities in November's general election. However, thanks to a favorable district, a fundraising advantage and union support like 1199's, victory will be no easy task for Mr. Gounardes.

GeorgePataki.com

As George Pataki -- and his website -- inch closer to formally entering the 2012 GOP race for president, here's a roundup of what people are saying about him.

Jonathan Capehart remembers that Pataki endorsed Carl Paladino for governor last year, which doesn't bode very well for that "moderate" and "welcoming" presence some think the former governor brings to the GOP primary.

"This is clearly the website of someone running for Vice-President," New York magazine's Chris Rovzar writes.

Slate's David Weigel figures out the Pataki site is registered until 2013.

The governor's dealing with 1199 SEIU will haunt him, warns a blogger at DrewMusings.

Joseph Spector says to watch Pataki in Iowa this Saturday.

Newsday's Yancey Roy -- undoubtedly channeling the New York Post -- writes "Pataki for press web site up, then down."

Neil King Jr. of the Wall Street Journal added to the conversation at 1 p.m.

And Nick Reisman at Capital Tonight argues the site shows Pataki's people are serious about a campaign.

"I'm lucky enough, and he knows it's true, to say that I was one of Governor Cuomo's earliest supporters," Weinstein told the crowd.

"Yes, yes," Cuomo called out. "Angel investor."

"You are an angel," Weinstein gushed.

"That's the first time anybody's ever called him that," Obama said.

The room burst into laughter.

Standing in Weinstein's basement, Obama said his troubles are like the ones facing Cuomo.

"When I ran in 2008, I think that a lot of folks believed we elect Obama and suddenly we're going to fix politics in Washington," Obama said. "And Andrew is familiar with this, because everybody figures, well, we're going to fix politics in Albany."

"And then it turns out that there are a lot of bad habits that have been built up over time, and we're also a big, diverse country and not everybody agrees with me; not everybody agrees with the folks who live in Manhattan," he said, drawing laughter from the rich celebrities that filled the room. "West of here," he said. "You guys may not be familiar with it."

The comparison was something of a stretch. Obama is struggling to recharge the national economy amid an increasingly deadlocked capitol split along party lines, while Cuomo, for his part, isn't struggling much.

He passed a budget without raising taxes or destroying social service programs, and passed a landmark bill legalizing same-sex marriage, turning the state government in Albany from "dysfunctional" to hyperactive, in under seven months. (Cuomo attended the fundraiser as an invited guest, and did not pay, according to a source.)

Before leaving, Obama likened himself to referenced one more figure. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I think that we forget when he was alive there was nobody who was more vilified, nobody who was more controversial, nobody who was more despairing at times," he said. "But what he understood, what kept him going, was that the arc of moral universe is long but it bends towards justice."

While attending a fund-raiser the night before in Manhattan for Rep. Charlie Rangel, I asked Cuomo -- who has not left the state since becoming governor in January -- if he would travel beyond New York to help Obama.

"I would help the president in any way that I can," Cuomo said, on the third floor of the Crown Plaza hotel. "So, any way that I can help him, I will."

Back inside Weinstein's five-story red brick townhouse on Bank Street, was one more figure key to electing Obama. Patrick Gaspard stood in a dark suit and solid black tie with his arms folded.

Gaspard was the White House political director during the first half of Obama's first term, before moving to the Democratic National Committee to become their executive director. Before that, Gaspard was head of political strategy for the New York-based healthcare workers union, 1199 SEIU.

The union strongly backed Cuomo in his 2006 race for attorney general and 2010 race for governor. The two men recently attended a fund-raiser in Manhattan for the president. The Daily News recently quoted an unnamed source who said Cuomo "wants him [Gaspard] back in New York after the president's re-elected."

[Note: This item was updated to correct and expand Obama's remarks about Martin Luther King, Jr.]

Chelsea Clinton joined advocates this evening in Manhattan to mark the first week of a phonebank campaign to legalize same-sex marriage, and said she hopes that New York will pass a same-sex marriage bill by her anniversary this July.

"As someone who got married last year, it was certainly the happiest day of my life to be able to marry my best friend," she said of her 2010 wedding to husband Marc Mezvinsky. "I fundamentally believe that every New Yorker, every American, and everyone should have the same right."

This closely follows Bill Clinton's latest comments in support of same-sex marriage, which was announced by the New York office of the Human Rights Campaign earlier today. The announcement by the former president marks just how widely accepted the issue has become in the mainstream--Clinton, after all, was the president who signed the Defense of Marriage Act and Don't Ask Don't Tell into law--and adds yet more power to the increasingly active movement to get same-sex marriage legislation passed in New York. Every statewide elected official supports it, as does New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Politico said the former president's comment earlier today "underscores" the fact that "President Obama is increasingly to the right of his party" on this issue.

"I was very grateful that my father gave me yet another reason to be proud," said the daughter of the former president,  standing inside the 1199 SEIU Headquarters on West 42nd Street.

The phonebank is part of a larger campaign by New Yorkers for Marriage Equality, a coalition of gay rights organizations that is now attempting a final push for same-sex marriage by reaching out to supporters in swing districts through the end of the 2011 legislative session. Meanwhile, Cuomo has announced that he's about to hit the campaign trail to rally support for (among other things) getting gay marriage legislation passed in June.

"I also know, having grown up in politics, that sometimes we need to help politicians do the right things, and that we need to help constituents understand what's really at stake," she said. "I know that we'll get there."

Now, where's Hillary Clinton?

Former President Clinton comes out in support of same-sex marriage, a sign of how far into the mainstream the LGBT agenda has become. (It was Clinton, after all, who signed things like the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states the right to refuse same-sex marriages performed in other states; and Don't Ask Don't Tell, the military rule from the 1990s whose repeal earlier this year was cheered as a major LGBT victory).

In a statement released by the Human Rights Campaign, Clinton said:

Our nation's permanent mission is to form a ‘more perfect union’ - deepening the meaning of freedom, broadening the reach of opportunity, strengthening the bonds of community. That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them. Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in New York, with marriage equality. For more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York's welcome must include marriage equality.

As with the videos from HRC, the message is positive, points no fingers at those who are opposing it, and paints the issue as an expansion of freedom.

Update: Chelsea Clinton will join activists at a phone bank inside 1199 SEIU headquarters, around 7 p.m. tonight, pushing for the cause. Tonight kicks off bi-weekly calling sessions, notes Liz Benjamin.