Hoffa Wins Teamsters Election

James P. Hoffa, son of one of the most famous union leaders in the history of organized labor, will hold a press co-ference today in Washington, D.C., following his presumed victory over Tom Leedham to become president of the 1.4-million member Teamsters union.

As federally supervised ballot counting entered the final stages, Mr. Hoffa lengthened his lead over Mr. Leedham, who conceded the election on Saturday.

As of late Sunday, Mr. Hoffa won 54.7% of 323,900 votes cast. Mr. Leedham won 39.3% and John Metz claimed 6%.

"The returns have made it clear that our campaign for rank-and-file power ran out of time," Mr. Leedham said in a statement. "Hoffa Jr. campaigned for four years, spend $6 million and had a famous name." He challenged Mr. Hoffa to work for "real union reform."

Mr. Hoffa will fill out the unexpired term of Ron Carey, who won a narrow victory over Mr. Hoffa in 1996. The election was overturned, and Mr. Carey was disqualified from running again, because of fundraising violations by Mr. Carey’s campaign.

In addition to Mr. Hoffa’s victory, virtually all members of the "Hoffa Unity Slate" are expected to also win positions on the Teamsters’ policy-making General Executive Board.