Union defers on endorsement

Nevada's Service Employees International Union decided not to endorse a presidential candidate Wednesday evening but left the door open for an endorsement later.

The executive board of the union, which represents about 17,500 health care and county workers, held a lengthy discussion of the three candidates it is considering -- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, all Democrats -- and concluded, in an almost unanimous voice vote, that support was too evenly split among them to settle on a candidate at this time, union spokeswoman Hilary Haycock said.

The union's decision to wait and see follows an announcement by the state's largest labor union, the Culinary workers, that it won't endorse a candidate until next month.

Haycock emphasized that the board didn't decide not to endorse, just not to endorse right now.

Although its next regular meeting isn't until late January, the board can call impromptu meetings.