Massachusetts SEIU 11th state to endorse Edwards

ABC News’ Raelyn Johnson reports: Democratic presidential contender John Edwards is having a great week in terms of defining himself as a labor candidate as news came late Thursday that the Massachusetts Service Employees International has become the 11th state this week to endorse Edwards.

On Monday, Edwards secured an important first in the nation state—Iowa, and state councils from California, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio and Oregon endorsed Edwards, giving him support from nearly 1 million members.

Edwards is the first democratic presidential candidate to be endorsed by the politically powerful SEIU after the union decided not to endorse a single candidate national, rather giving the power to states to individually endorse. The move was seen as blow to Edwards who heavily courted the union along with Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. 

Edwards tried to woo the support of the national SEIU perhaps from a disadvantage, considering Clinton and Obama both hailing from states with large union membership.

But what was seen as blow is now being seen as a boost from the perspective of the Edwards campaign, as the individual state SEIU endorsements provide for members to campaign in other states that endorse the same candidate.