REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — It was the perfect place to welcome the endorsement of the national firefighters union — a gleaming new firehouse in a blue-collar town just outside of Detroit in the key battleground state of Michigan. But by the time Kamala Harris showed up in Redford Township on Friday, there was no endorsement waiting for her.
By a slim margin, the International Association of Firefighters declined to back any candidate, a reminder of the Democratic nominee’s struggle to lock down the same support from organized labor that President Joe Biden won four years ago. The Teamsters also balked at an endorsement last month. Harris is still gaining more endorsements than she’s losing.
National teachers unions, building trade unions, the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers backed the vice president shortly after Biden ended his run for a second term. And the leader of the Michigan firefighters union, Matthew Sahr, showed up for Harris in Redford Charter Township — although not to bestow the endorsement. "We could have chosen to stay away.
But what kind of message would that send?” Sahr said. The stumbles reflect the shifting loyalties in American politics as Harris vies with former President Donald Trump for support among working class voters who for years could be more solidly counted on to support Democrats. In her remarks at the firehouse, Harris didn't mince words about Trump, saying he "has been a union-buster his entire career” who would launch a .