Murphy picks up major union endorsement in Florida Senate race

The largest federal employee union on Wednesday threw its support behind Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) for the open Florida Senate seat, giving him another major union endorsement.

{mosads}The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said Murphy would protect federal workers’ rights and support funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“We know that we will be able to count on him when it comes to supporting the rights of federal workers at the work place as well as ending the policies of pay freezes and pay cuts for these hard working men and women,” AFGE national president J. David Cox said in a statement. “We know that in the Senate Patrick will support a fully funded VA, fight to end the sequester for all agencies, and strongly advocate against any efforts of privatization.”

Murphy, who’s in a heated primary battle with Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), has already scored a number of union endorsements from the Florida Teamsters and the AFSCME and from unions representing machinists, carpenters and ironworkers. 

The party’s establishment has rallied behind Murphy, and he has received a number of high-profile endorsements, including support from President Obama, Vice President Biden and former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.).

The AFGE endorsement comes one day after Grayson landed endorsements from two powerful progressive groups, Democracy for America (DFA) and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), furthering the narrative of a fight between the Democratic establishment and the party’s more progressive wing.

Grayson is under fire for continuing to run a hedge fund while in Congress. Top campaign staffers, who have since departed, recommended last year that he close the account, but the liberal firebrand pushed back on the advice, according to emails obtained by The New York Times.

The heightened buzz around the fund prompted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to call on Grayson to drop out of the race. But Grayson called the reports about his hedge fund “outright lies.”

Murphy has significantly outpaced Grayson in fundraising, but a Public Policy Polling survey from earlier this month found Grayson leading Murphy by double digits, though nearly half of voters are undecided.