CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 28: A worker listens to speakers from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 at a rally outside the Thompson Center September 28, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The rally was one of 22 held nationwide by the union to galvanize their members before contracts for 160,000 janitors around the country expire next year. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) - One of the nation's most politically active labor unions plans to focus its resources on fewer states this year in an effort to re-elect President Barack Obama.
The Service Employees International Union says it will target its massive field campaign on turning out voters in just eight battleground states - about half the number it focused on in 2008.
The 2.1 million-member union also hopes to get 100,000 of its members to volunteer in its political program. That's twice as many as in the last presidential race.
Target states include Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia - each considered crucial for an Obama victory.
Overall, the union is expected to spend at least $85 million to help Obama win, similar to what it spent in 2008.
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6/19/2012 12:04:42 PM (GMT -4:00)
Associated Press