The King County Labor Council said yesterday it endorsed Rich Berkowitz and Jack Jolley in races for the Port of Seattle Commission.

The endorsements strengthened their chances against challenger Lloyd Hara and incumbent Patricia Davis.

The endorsements come after Labor Council-backed candidate Peter Coates came in fourth in Tuesday's primary for the open seat, Position 3.

Berkowitz, western director of the Transportation Institute, and Hara, a former Seattle treasurer, got the most votes in that race.

Davis ran ahead of Jolley with 44 percent of the vote for Position 4. That may seem a weak showing for a 19-year incumbent, but she also polled 44 percent in the 2001 primary and then won the general election. She has endorsements from several important unions, including the Teamsters and Longshoremen.

The latest endorsements appeared to increase the chance of a new consensus emerging on the five-member commission.

Berkowitz and Jolley, along with Commissioner Alec Fisken, say the port should pay for itself with fees from the businesses that use it. Davis has supported the port's continuing reliance on $60 million a year in county-property-tax money, as well as its ventures into real-estate development.

The endorsements, while not binding on member unions, likely will bring votes and campaign volunteers.

"There's only so many calls I can make a day," said Jolley, a former Microsoft treasury manager. "Getting my name out and attaching something a voter can remember to it is critical."

Berkowitz said he wants to steer the port back to its proper course, not in a new direction.

"They've veered off course to dabble in real estate," he said. "I'm taking them back into what has been and should be their direction — maritime."

Alwyn Scott: 206-464-3329 or ascott@seattletimes.com