Ballots Mailed to Union Members in Teamsters Election

The Teamsters rerun election got underway Monday as the court-appointed election officer mailed ballots to the union’s 1.4 million members.

Members have one month to decide whether James P. Hoffa, son of Teamsters legend James R. Hoffa, or Tom Leedham, head of the union’s warehouse division, will become their next union president. A third declared candidate, John Metz, hasn’t fielded a campaign.

Hoffa narrowly lost his bid to unseat incumbent Ron Carey in 1996, but the results of that contest were overturned and Carey was barred from the rerun after investigators found that Carey’s campaign benefited from an illegal fund-raising scheme.

The government supervises the elections under the terms of a 1989 consent decree that the union signed to avoid racketeering charges.

The 1996 race cost more than $17 million in public funds. The new race had been delayed several times while union officials and congressional Republicans bickered over who should pay for it. The Teamsters agreed to foot the rerun’s $6-million bill after GOP officials said the government would cover the Teamsters’ annual $4-million payment for a court-appointed board that investigates corruption in the union.