Leedham Hopes To Upset Hoffa

The Teamsters union mailed ballots to its 1.4 million members last week, and Tom Leedham hopes to upset incumbent James P. Hoffa for the union’s presidency.

An article in the Oct. 15 New York Times, Leedham insisted he has a good chance, despite a huge fund-raising disadvantage.
This isn’t the first time the Oregon Teamsters leader has faced Hoffa in the election. In 1998, Hoffa won 57 percent of the vote, Leedham 39 percent and John Metz 5 percent.
Leedham claims victory in a Sept. 21 debate, which Hoffa bailed out of at the last minute, sending Chuck Mack in his place. As the ballots were being mailed, the Leedham campaign was sending out videotapes of the debate.
In his closing comments, Leedham stated, "Hoffa promised to come today to defend his record. But he broke that promise. Maybe that's because his record is indefensible."
Leedham presented his program to win strong contracts, organize non-union companies that threaten to undermine Teamster agreements, and end corruption.
Leedham, a former warehouse worker, has served in every level of Teamster leadership, including as International Vice President and Director of the International Warehouse Division. He is currently Principal Officer of Oregon Teamster Local 206.
The Hoffa campaign is confident that Hoffa will win easily, according to the Times. He has the power of a well-known name, the incumbency behind him, and has raised more than $2 million in campaign funds compared to about $200,000 for Leedham.
“By any standard, Leedham is certainly an underdog,” Richard Leebove, a spokesman for the Hoffa campaign, told the paper.
Leedham has long been considered an heir to Ron Carey, who was elected Teamsters president in 1991 promising to fight corruption and was later ousted for failing to stop a campaign finance scandal. Last Friday, a jury agreed with Carey’s claims that he knew nothing about the scam, acquitting him of perjury and other charges.
Leedham hailed the decision, saying in a statement on his campaign web site, “[This] decision allows us to see the records of Ron Carey and James Hoffa clearly - without the smokescreen of innuendo.”
Some of the differences between Hoffa and Leedham’s positions, according to the Times:

• Hoffa has sided with Republicans and the White House in pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Leedham, however, questions the accuracy of studies saying the drilling would create more than 500,000 jobs.
• Hoffa is pushing for the federal government to end its oversight of the union. Leedham, however, says supervision should remain until the union demonstrates it is free of corruption, questioning Hoffa’s claims of a full-scale commitment to end corruption in the Teamsters.
• Hoffa’s campaign says he has taken an aggressive approach to organizing and membership building, while Leedham’s supporters say Hoffa has not done enough organizing and that union membership has shrunk under his watch.

Ballot-counting is scheduled to begin Nov. 13, and is expected to take three days.