UFCW Local 7 rescinds endorsement for former union exec Crisanta Duran

"I may not have the UFCW's seal of approval -- but at least he likes me."

How bad is the blood between the current leadership of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 and Crisanta Duran, former UFCW associate counsel and daughter of ex-union boss Ernie Duran? So bad that at a meeting earlier this week, the executive board rescinded its endorsement of her candidacy for the state House of Representatives in District 5.

Local 7 spokesman Dave Minshall confirms this action but not much else. According to him, "All I can say is that the board changed its mind about the original endorsement."

So what's behind this action?

Many of the answers can be found in reporter Melanie Asmar's December feature article about Kim Cordova, who defeated the elder Duran for Local 7's top job in an election the Durans disputed.

In an October blog about a Channel 7 report accusing Ernie Duran of nepotism, spending irregularities and lots more, Crisanta Duran defended her father's actions and called the results of the vote into question. "We've brought up a variety of election violations," she said at the time, "and the evidence to back them up is very, very clear."

Not to the present execs at Local 7, who last week encouraged the membership to approve a new contract with King Soopers and Safeway, ending nearly a year of tension and uncertainty, most of it taking place on the Duran's watch.

Minshall says the Local 7 board has not yet chosen who to endorse in District 5, if anyone. But it's clear Crisanta Duran won't have the UFCW behind her.