Tonight Gulf Coast labor unions celebrated the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as a victory for working people, democracy, and solidarity.
Lacy Wolf, President of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, said, “Despite the pandemic and deliberate barriers, working people came together across race and place to choose new leaders who will stand with all of us. Union members anchored Get Out The Vote drives for Biden-Harris in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and other battleground states, and tonight we celebrate the victory working people brought our country. The American people have spoken, and in America voters decide who their leaders will be. Trump’s campaign may resort to baseless lawsuits or peddling fantasies about widespread voter fraud, but we know this was a free and fair election. We are confident the will of the people will prevail, and union members will always defend our democracy and continue our fight for a better day.”
Hany Khalil, Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation Executive Director, said, “In the Gulf Coast, unions spent the past three months running the most ambitious coordinated AFL-CIO campaign ever to register and turn out union members for Biden-Harris and endorsed candidates down the ballot. Union members made 200,000 calls, sent 120,000 pieces of mail, ran 3 million digital ads, and distributed 25,00 flyers to union members. As a result, in the 13 ALF Counties union members turned out at a significantly higher rate than the general public. Statewide we helped cut Trump’s margin from 9% in 2016 to 5.8% this year. Texas is changing, and the labor movement is leading the way.”
During early voting, 73% of union members turned out to vote compared to 63% turnout from the general public. Final election day numbers are not yet available.
The Area Labor Federation’s program contributed to a sweep of countywide offices in both Harris and Fort Bend Counties, electing young, progressive leaders who will fight for working people. It was instrumental to enabling incumbents like US Representative Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (CD7) and Jon Rosenthal (TX HD 135) to hold their seats and electing Ann Johnson to TX HD 134.
