AFSCME Union Endorses Leslie Knope of 'Parks and Recreation' for Pawnee City Council

NBC

Leslie Knope just got a powerful ally in her race for city council.

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The quirky, dedicated, and borderline obsessive Deputy Parks Manager of fictional Pawnee, Indiana in NBC's Parks and Recreation received on Friday the very public and very viral endorsement of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. 

“We proudly endorse Leslie Knope for Pawnee City Council," the unions president, Gerald W. McEntee, said in a statement. "Knope’s public service and her passion for making our communities safer, healthier and stronger make her the right person for the job.”

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The endorsement, of course, comes with a catch; the union wants Amy Poehler, who plays Knope, to speak at their upcoming convention, and offered to ply her with waffles, Knope's favorite food, backstage. 

Knope is the perfect candidate for AFSCME: she's a fierce advocate of local government and is running against Bobby Newport (guest star Paul Rudd), who is the scion of the town's dominant -- and quite evil -- corporation, Sweetums.

Whether this endorsement will help remains to be seen; at the show's PaleyFest event earlier this week, show co-creator Michael Schur said that they had yet to decide whether Knope would win the election.

"We shot actually three different endings, partially because we want to make sure that the one we are choosing is the right and we reserve the right to change our minds and also partly just to confuse people," he explained.