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How much is a Presidential candidate worth to your union? Jesse Russell takes a look at some big numbers:

How important is it for a union’s endorsed candidate to receive the Democratic nod for President? If dollar signs are a good measure, then nearly $8 million over two months. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades spent a combined $3,675,548.10 to support Senator Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Presidency. Not to be outdone, the Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, Unite-Here, and the United Food of Commercial Workers have spent a combined $3,744,131.26 to support Senator Barack Obama. The lion’s share of the spending for Obama can be attributed to the SEIU, who endorsed the candidate in mid-February and have more than $3 million dollars. On Clinton’s side, it is AFSCME pulling the funding weight using more than $2 million to support their candidate and earmarking more than $234,000 for Obama opposition. The AFT isn’t too far behind, pitching in nearly $1.5 million for Clinton support. So how much is an election end up being worth to unions? With Ohio, Vermont, Texas, and Rhode Island going to the polls today, we may know by tomorrow morning.

The Federal Elections Commission has released a report on independent expenditures spent on each of the candidates through February 28 – or the primary season through Wisconsin.

Clinton:
AFSCME: $2,196,647.96
AFT: $1,455,383.59
IUPAT: $23,516.55

AFSCME Obama Opposition: $234,483.86

Dodd:
IAFF: $256,365.50

Obama:
SEIU 1199: $382,017.76
Teamsters: $12,787.50
SEIU-COPE: $3,063,811.00
UNITE-Here TIP: $96,360.00
UFCW: $189,155.00