A major union in the swing state of Ohio has thrown its support to one of the most vulnerable Republican senators in the country.
The state’s Teamsters thus helps Republican chances of retaining the Senate in a difficult year for the GOP.
“On behalf of our 50,000 members in Ohio, we are proud to endorse Rob Portman,” Pat Darrow, president of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, said in a Monday announcement released by Portman’s campaign.
That’s the second union to endorse Portman after backing his opponent, former Gov. Ted Strickland, and other Democratic candidates in previous elections. The United Mine Workers backed Portman in June. Such union support could help Senate Republicans retain the battleground seat and the majority on Capitol Hill in the 2017 Congress. It also suggests how GOP nominee Donald Trump might hope to win blue-leaning states in the Midwest.
“When it comes to hardworking Ohio families, Rob Portman has our back,” Darrow said. “Rob is fighting for middle-class jobs and higher wages for the people of Ohio, and he has fought with us to protect our pensions. We look forward to supporting Rob and continuing to work with him in the U.S. Senate.”
Portman’s team explained the endorsement by citing several issues in which the senator echoes Trump’s campaign message, such as legislation that “is already helping American companies fight back against China’s unfair trade practices” and his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major trade agreement negotiated by President Obama but opposed by grassroots voters and activists in both parties.
That’s a blow to Democrats, who hopes Portman’s past work negotiating trade agreements in George W. Bush’s administration would prevent him from capitalizing on anti-TPP sentiment.
“It’s hard to believe that Portman, who voted to fast track this same proposal just months ago, served as the trade representative under President Bush and voted for eight other free trade agreements, suddenly has a problem with the type of deals he’s helped broker,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Lauren Passalacqua said in February.
Portman celebrated the announcement. “I’m proud to have these hard-working Ohioans on our team,” he said. “We’ve worked to protect Ohio jobs and stop retirees from facing pension cuts as large as 70 percent due to no fault of their own.”
