The United Auto Workers (UAW) — a labor union — is getting behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president. They unveiled their endorsement ahead of a planned Harris trip to Detroit — both a center of the U.S. auto industry and a part of swing state Michigan.
“Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in prepared remarks released by the union this week. “We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed.”
Fain’s statement said the union has one million active and retired members. And the press release from the union described the forthcoming Detroit rally as an event with “UAW members, Michigan voters, and thousands of working class people who are fighting for a better future.”
Also apparently set for coming days is the public reveal of Harris’ choice for running mate now that she is newly the expected Democratic presidential nominee for the year. She assumed that role after the withdrawal from this year’s election of President Joe Biden, who endorsed her to replace him. And Harris quickly assembled the needed support from Democratic convention delegates to actually move towards the party’s nomination, with no serious challenge among Democrats emerging. Instead, Democratic Party figures who might have contended with Harris for the nomination endorsed her.
And Harris’ grassroots support also exploded. The Harris campaign raised more than $300 million in July. Biden’s withdrawal announcement came on July 21, and the Biden-Harris campaign became the Harris campaign, but most of the fundraising came after the campaign had made that transformation, including $200 million in the week following Biden’s exit.
