The race for Spokane mayor is getting more interesting.

The Spokane Regional Labor Council has released the list of candidates it supports for the August primary and Spokane Mayor Mary Verner isn't on the list.

That's a bit of a surprise given her recent support for a labor-backed change to contracting rules giving the city wider lattitude to pass over low bidders on contracts when a low bidder has had recent problems following labor, environmental or other laws. (Verner, however, surprised some union leaders when she said she would push to amend the rules.)

The council, which is the regional organization for the AFL-CIO, also declined to back any of Verner's opponents, including her main challenger, David Condon. That's not a surprise, given Condon's promise to be a tougher negotiator with unions and his calls for pay freezes at City Hall.

Verner's relationship with unions at City Hall has been mixed and grew strained as she worked to win contract concessions in the last two budget cycles. Most the city's bargaining groups eventually agreed to contracts or contract changes that allowed them to avoid layoffs.

Unions play a large role in city politics, just as the business and development community do. The decision means the main local labor group won't be working for a Spokane mayoral candidate, at least through the primary, an outcome that likely benefits Condon -- especially since he already enjoys a big fund-raising advantage.

Beth Thew, secretary-treasurer of the council, said she wouldn't be surprised if the council reconsiders the race after the primary. Candidates were interviewed on June 28 and a group made up of representatives of local AFL-CIO-affiliated unions voted on the endorsements. To win backing, a candidate needed two-thirds support from the group, Thew said.

"If there are any questions that need clarification or anything like that, we will wait to hold off on our endorsements," she said. "We want to make sure that when we move forward with our endorsement that everybody is comfortable and can stand behind it."

To see the list of candidates endorsed by the labor council for the August primary, continue reading this post.

Here are the candidates the labor council opted to back:

Spokane mayor: no endorsement

Spokane City Council president: no endorsement

Spokane City Council, Northeast district: Luke Tolley

Spokane City Council, South district: Richard Rush

Spokane City Council, Northwest district: Joy Jones

Spokane Valley City Council, position 3: Dee Dee Loberg

Liberty Lake mayor: Josh Beckett

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