Dems launch ads targeting crucial union vote in battleground states
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Photo: Courtesy DNC
Friday morning the Democratic National Committee launched an ad campaign to get out the union vote, placing billboards near union halls and factories in battleground states.
Why it matters: The union vote is critical in the election and it's very much in play.
- It's why Teamsters president Sean O'Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention — and ultimately declined to follow other major unions in supporting Kamala Harris.
The big picture: There was a time when the Democratic party could rely on the unions to turn out the vote — but the party's edge with labor has been diminishing since at least 2016.
- "The DNC isn't taking any vote for granted," the org said in a press release Friday morning.
Zoom in: One billboard features a picture of Scabby, the iconic inflatable giant rat that unions deploy in labor disputes.
- The other features a photo from the neck down of someone who looks like Donald Trump and says: "Billionaires didn't build the middle class. Unions did."
Where it stands: Union members make up a small share of American workers overall but there is higher union density in the battleground states.
- Retired and active union members and their households make up 20% of voters in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, per the DNC.
- The billboards will run in those states and Georgia.
By the numbers: The United Autoworkers earlier this week released internal survey information showing Harris leading Trump by 22 points with union voters in key battleground states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada.
- The union, which endorsed Harris, says this is a result of its "most ambitious political program in decades" — a door-knocking push that has union members talking directly to union households.
- The survey shows Harris with a 5-point lead among white UAW members without college degrees — a group that's gone for Trump in past elections.
The intrigue: The 2024 race is shaping up to be all about gender — with women favoring Harris; and men going for Trump. Unions are no exception.
- The AFL-CIO told the New York Times that it's tracking a 32-point difference in support for Harris over Trump among its female members in internal surveys.
