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President Dennis Rivera of District 1199/Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced yesterday at a press conference with Governor George Pataki that the union will support Mr. Pataki in the upcoming gubernatorial elections. The announcement fulfilled expectations that New York’s Health and Human Services Union---the largest health care workers’ union in the state---would back Pataki following the governor’s efforts to secure raises and other legislation favorable to the state’s health care workers (see WIT for Feb. 19, 2002). SEIU is considered by many to be the most politically influential union in New York, and has historically been closely identified with the state’s Democratic Party---making its backing of Mr. Pataki a major blow for Democratic challengers H. Carl McCall and Andrew M. Cuomo.