http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/24/unions_work_in_fl_dem_contenders_dont/Former President Bill Clinton shakes hands with a crowd gathered inside Huger's restaurant on King Street Wednesday January 23, 2008, in Charleston, S.C.. Clinton was in town campaigning for his wife Hillary. The South Carolina democratic primary is this Saturday, January 26, 2008. (AP Photo/The Post And Courier, Melissa Haneline)
By Jesse J. Holland
AP Labor Writer / January 24, 2008
WASHINGTON—Hillary Rodham Clinton's union supporters are working hard for her in Florida, although the New York senator can't come into the state herself because of the state's defiance of Democratic Party primary rules.
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The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is mailing its 110,000 members in Florida as well as its retirees urging them to vote for Clinton. In addition, the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, is working its 250,000 members for Clinton as well.
This effort is ongoing despite a national Democratic ban on candidates campaigning in Florida for its Jan. 29 primary. Clinton, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards have not appeared in the state since August and aren't advertising there.
The national party stripped the state of its convention delegates and told candidates not to appear in the state after Florida Democrats decided to hold the primary earlier than party rules allow.
But unions are not bound by Democratic Party rules.
Both unions were already ramping up their turnout efforts for the Jan. 29 vote, because Floridians will vote on that day on a constitutional amendment cutting property taxes.
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