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HELENA - The state's largest union of school and government employees threw its weight behind Justice Jim Nelson on Monday in the race for one of two contested seats on the state's top court.

"Jim Nelson is a proven jurist who has served Montana well. He reads the constitution for what it says. He has no ulterior motives," said Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT, a union of 16,000 teachers, state employees, college professors and other public employees.

Nelson, a former Glacier County prosecutor, has served on the Montana Supreme Court since he was appointed to the seat in 1993. He was elected as Glacier County attorney as a Democrat.

His challenger, Rep. Cindy Younkin, R-Bozeman, is a water rights lawyer and political leader who has accused Nelson and the current court of making new laws, not just interpreting the state constitution.

But Feaver said he finds that argument baseless. He and the other union leaders who made the endorsement interviewed both Nelson and Younkin. Feaver said he found Younkin's grasp of the constitutional issues surrounding public education to be "appallingly vapid."

Younkin could not be reached for comment.

Nelson said he was proud to have the union's support.

"I believe it suggests my commitment to the laws and constitution which protect working Montanans and our citizens' educational rights," he said.

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