Richardson gets union nod

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Wednesday was endorsed by a Southern Nevada local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, his campaign said.

The union has about 2,400 members, most of them telecom or power-company workers. Union official Charlie Randall said the endorsement was an "easy decision" because of the New Mexico governor's "commitment to seeing our members face to face," according to a statement issued by the Richardson campaign.

The electrical workers are the second Nevada union to endorse Richardson. Last month, he received the support of the statewide local of the Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons, which has about 2,000 members.

The union that endorsed Richardson on Wednesday, Local 396, is one of three Nevada IBEW locals. The other two, 357 in Las Vegas and 401 in Reno, represent mainly construction workers. In February, Richardson's rival John Edwards addressed Local 357.

The national electrical workers' union represents workers at nuclear plants, and it strongly supports the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

National union officials have said Local 357 also supports the project, but the Richardson campaign said Local 396 has no position on the issue.

The state, and most residents, strongly oppose the project. In a recent statewide poll, a majority of voters said they would make Yucca a factor in their decision of whom to support for president.

Richardson insists he always has opposed the dump, even though as a congressman he voted for a bill designating Nevada as the waste storage site and as energy secretary under President Clinton he did not stop the project.

In a Las Vegas speech last month, Richardson stressed that he doesn't oppose nuclear energy, a precondition for the support of the plumbers and pipefitters union he was addressing at the time. That union, which hasn't endorsed a candidate, has lobbied for Yucca Mountain and for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.