One union does not a landslide make, so this week’s United Public Workers’ endorsement of Democratic U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa for the U.S. Senate shows how closely fought next year’s primary will be.

Organized labor will be a big part of next year’s primary race because voter turnout is likely to be low, perhaps less than 45 percent of registered voters. With such a small base, any pressure group will have a big influence, so labor is a key part of the equation.

So far, Hanabusa, who has mostly represented labor unions as a private attorney, has not won most of the union endorsements in the race.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, Hanabusa’s opponent, has won 25 labor union endorsements, including the state’s largest union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

Both HGEA and UPW fall under the national American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees umbrella union and usually don’t split an endorsement.

AFSCME help in the Hawaii primary election will now be complicated, although it is fair to point out that Schatz has already picked up the support of other government unions such as police, fire and University of Hawaii faculty.

If candidates standing next to smiling cops and firefighters look good, politicians really grin when they see the size of the checks UHPA can deliver.

The most crucial remaining union endorsement for Schatz and Hanabusa will be the public school teachers union, the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

HSTA’s endorsement is important for three reasons.

First, there are a lot of teachers, about 13,000.

Second, teachers know lots of people, including the parents of their students.

And finally, teachers are involved in the community — think school plays and Saturday morning car washes.

So far, the HSTA endorsement is still up for grabs.

This week, Hanabusa also won the support of private unions, including the Hawaii Longshore Division statewide, Hawaii Laborers Union Local 368, Hawaii Masons Union Locals 1 and 630, the Hawaii Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 293, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 121.

Besides the labor endorsements, there was first a critical division between Hanabusa and Schatz over support for President Barack Obama’s decision to retaliate against Syria’s use of chemical weapons.

While both agree that the use of chemical weapons is abhorrent, Hanabusa is strongly objecting to any increased military involvement in the Middle East.

Since the crisis first broke, Hanabusa has only increased her opposition and elaborated on her fears that a strike would "lead to more than a limited tactical strike."

As of Wednesday, Hana-busa said her Washington office has gotten more than 600 emails supporting her opposition and 200 phone calls.

"Even comments on my Facebook page are almost unanimously positive," Hanabusa said.

During the week, Schatz issued several statements saying first that he supported Obama as commander in chief, and then urging that Obama make a decision in consultation with Congress.

Late Thursday, Schatz announced in a terse email that after listening to the administration briefings and "the people of Hawaii," he would oppose a resolution allowing for a military strike.

Schatz had built a large part of his campaign on support from progressive Democrats who have been opposing action in Syria, while Hanabusa’s campaign is built upon her legislative record and backing from supporters of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.

While repeatedly saying a military strike would not be effective, Hanabusa also noted that both Inouye and former U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka voted against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, even though most Democrats voted in favor of them.

With labor support divided, the first major legislative political test for Schatz and Hanabusa was going to be the vote on Syria until Schatz announced his opposition.

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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.