San Diego’s police union endorsed Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher for mayor today, a high-profile get that shows Fletcher’s success in walking the line between Republican pension-busting supporters and a public employee union.

We’ll have more analysis on this today, but a few initial thoughts: When Fletcher first announced we wondered how he would handle upsetting potential backers on either side of the aisle. We called it “Nathan Fletcher’s Tightrope.”

The eventual decisions Fletcher will have to make on the city’s budget and pension troubles likely will turn dark the now-starry eyes of leaders from the Republican Party or public safety unions, both potential key supporters.

Since then, Fletcher made a big decision to support a pension reform initiative that all the city’s unions, including police officers, hate.

“It makes it much more difficult for us to consider Nathan for an endorsement,” police union head Brian Marvel told me the day Fletcher announced his support for the measure.

Obviously, that’s now changed. Marvel told me today there was more to the June primary than the pension issue. Stay tuned for more.

Liam Dillon is a news reporter for voiceofsandiego.org. He covers San Diego City Hall, the 2012 mayor’s race and big building projects. What should he write about next?

Please contact him directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663.

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Liam Dillon

Liam Dillon was formerly a senior reporter and assistant editor for Voice of San Diego. He led VOSD’s investigations and wrote about how regular people...

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