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The state’s largest public employee union has endorsed former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk in the likely recall election against Gov. Scott Walker.

In a memo to its members, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, which represents more than 60,000 public workers, described Falk as “the strongest leader to reverse Gov. Scott Walker’s reign of deceit and job-killing extremism”

“Unlike the current governor, Falk has no hidden agenda. She’s always been clear about her commitment to working people,” said the memo obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

AFSCME officials said they accelerated the endorsement process because the recall vote could be coming up soon. The union had interviewed a total of five Democratic candidates, including Falk, who spent 14 years at the helm of Dane County government.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who is weighing a possible bid in the recall race, was not among those who sat for an endorsement interview with the labor group.

Recall organizers say they submitted more than 1 million signatures in an attempt to force Walker, a first-term Republican, to face a recall election. To do that, the state must verify the authenticity of more than 540,000 signatures, something Walker has said he expects will happen.

The AFSCME endorsement represents the second major union endorsement for Falk, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002 and attorney general four years later. Earlier this month, she won the backing of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union.

“This election is coming soon, and I’m so proud to have working men and women around the state standing alongside me in this fight,” Falk said in a statement about the AFSCME endorsement.