DIANNA HEITZ
First published on March 3, 2010 by POLITICO

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien scored two union endorsements Wednesday in his effort to unseat long-serving Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski in a May 18 Democratic primary.

The Northeast Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council and the Scranton Building and Construction Trades Council both backed O'Brien, with the first union's president, Mike Rozitski, saying they expected the Democratic challenger to "fight for our region."

The two councils represent about 10,000 members, but O'Brien could still face an uphill climb with union members in the 11th Congressional District and Kanjorski's spokesman said the congressman still rates highly with big unions, including the AFL-CIO.