An employees’ union based in Washington, D.C., has a large stake in who wins the Alabama House of Representatives District 67 race.

Service Employees International Union has contributed $14,200 to LaTosha Brown and her campaign against Yusuf Salaam.

Brown and Salaam square off Tuesday in the Democratic primary run-off for the District 67 seat. The winner faces Republican Mark Story in the Nov. 5 general election.

According to campaign finance disclosures released to Secretary of State Jim Bennett, SEIU has made contributions of $5,000 and $2,500 to Brown, while also giving in-kind contributions of $6,700 to her. In-kind contributions are made when organizations or individuals pay for a candidates campaign costs — such as paying for advertisements.

“I don’t really know a lot about them,” Brown said. “I do know they’re getting involved with young, black candidates around the nation.”

SEIU has also made contributions of $7,500 to Bobby Singleton, who faces incumbent Andrew Hayden in the House District 72 primary run-off.

According to the SEIU Web site, the union has a membership of “1.5 million working people and 120,000 retirees united to improve our jobs and our communities.”

The union also has political caucuses — one is called AFRAM, which helps black candidates get elected to office.

Salaam said he isn’t familiar with the organization, and he doesn’t know what stake they have in Alabama politics.

“It wouldn’t be smart for me to speculate on who they are or what they stand for,” Salaam said.

Within the AFRAM section of SEIU’s Web site, they have a policy paper written by Dr. Ronald Walters, a “distinguished leadership scholar” and professor at the University of Maryland.

The article deals directly with Selma and what SEIU claims are voting irregularities in Dallas County.

“Many of the barriers experienced by blacks in their attempt to vote in the 2000 elections date back to the period of rampant Jim Crow practices that were the target of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” the paper says. “For example, in the historic City of Selma, Alabama, local officials are allowed to regulate polling times and as a result, the state has five different voting times. Then, the notification of polling station changes was posted in the local newspaper which has a circulation of 7,000, in a 38-page section of the paper on May 17, 2000. However, there are 40,000 people in the heavily black Dallas county.”

Probate Judge Johnny Jones, the election official in Dallas County, says voting times have been the same here (8 a.m. – 6 p.m.) “ever since I can remember.” Jones has been probate judge for 26 years.

“There are some places in the state that vote from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., but I think 8-to-6 is plenty of time,” Jones said.

Salaam did not report contributions to the Secretary of State. He did say he has received more than $1,000 and has sent his financial disclosure to the state.

Along with SEIU, Brown reported receiving $2,000 from Milton McGreggor. McGreggor is involved in many of the gambling venues across Alabama and helped lead the push for a statewide lottery three years ago.

When asked if the contribution from McGreggor meant Brown would support a statewide lottery referendum (which Gov. Don Siegelman has proposed for the second time), Brown said she couldn’t answer the question.

“I’d have to look at both side of the issue,” she said.

Salaam also was hesitant to answer whether he would support a lottery.

“I’ll have to research the issue more and decide if the benefit of the funding source outweighs the detriment,” he said. “I’ve learned from government experience that the devil is in the details.”