Sunday, May 11, 2008Associated Press
An Ohio labor leader Saturday helped edge Sen. Barack Obama ever-closer to locking up the Democratic presidential nomination, as Obama's super delgate count eclipsed Sen. Hillary Clinton's for the first time.
Dave Regan -- president of Service Employees International Union 1199, which represents 27,000 workers in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky -- was named a super delegate Saturday during a meeting Saturday of state Democratic leaders.
Regan, who lives in Reynoldsburg, outside Columbus, was among five super delegates Saturday who said they backed Obama, tilting the count in his favor. The other super delegates voicing new support for Obama come from from Arizona, Utah and two from the Virgin Islands.
Within hours of telling state Democrats he supported Obama, reporters from national media organizations started calling him, Regan said Saturday.
Regan said he decided to support Obama three or four months ago, about the same time the national leadership of the SEIU endorsed Obama.
Supporting Obama runs counter to most Ohio Democrats' wishes. They voted for Clinton by a 10 percent margin during Ohio's March primary. Regan said the race has changed since then and that the excitement over Obama is growing.
"We're at a very important potential turning point in American politics," Regan said, referring to Obama as a "breath of fresh air."
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