WASHINGTON — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ General Executive Board on Wednesday decided not to endorse any candidate for U.S. President.
After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union said it was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.
The union also said it found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.
In data publicly released earlier in the day, President Joe Biden won the support of Teamsters voting in straw polls at local unions between April and July before his exit from the race. But in independent electronic and phone polling from July-September, a majority of voting members twice selected Trump for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Harris.
The union’s extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump.
During the Teamsters Rank-and-file Presidential Roundtables, the union shared feedback from members in the railroad and airline industries who work under the Railway Labor Act and are at the mercy of government intervention that often prevents work stoppages.
From April 9 to July 3, nearly 300 Teamsters local unions nationwide conducted first-of-their-kind Presidential town halls, soliciting endorsement preferences from members via straw polls. The in-person voting was held before Biden’s withdrawal from the race. The Teamsters’ polling data shows members backed Biden 44.3 percent to Trump’s 36.3 percent.
Following the Republican National Convention and Biden’s campaign exit, the Teamsters commissioned a national electronic poll of its 1.3 million members, overseen by an independent third party. During a voting window from July 24 to Sept. 15, rank-and-file Teamsters voted 59.6 percent for the union to endorse Trump, compared to 34 percent for Harris.
In the past week, following the Democratic National Convention and recent Presidential debate, the Teamsters commissioned independent polling firm Lake Research Partners to conduct the union’s final national survey. In the poll ending Sept. 15, Teamsters selected Trump for endorsement by 58 percent over 31 percent for Harris.
