The New Hampshire Republican Party is working hard to court union voters, long a core constituent of the Democrat Party.
Flanked by several Granite State labor union chiefs, NHGOP Chairman Chris Ager announced on Thursday the launch of a seven-member “Outreach to Labor” committee tasked with connecting Republican values with union voters.
“No longer should we consider labor the opposition,” Ager said.
In New Hampshire, just over 10 percent of the state’s labor force (about 70,000 workers) are union members, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from a 1995 high of 12.6 percent.
The NHGOP’s effort to make inroads with labor union members is part of a broader national strategy on display at July’s Republican National Convention, which featured a speech from Teamsters President Sean O’Brien.
(CREDIT: Robert Heyer)
And at the same time Ager was holding his press conference in Concord, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — the GOP nominee for vice president — was in Boston speaking at the International Association of Firefighters Convention.
A viral video of Vance being booed ahead of his speech is a reminder of how hard it may be for Republicans to make inroads with union leadership. The IAFF, which endorsed Biden for president in 2020, has yet to endorse a candidate in 2024.
But rank-and-file union voters have often voted Republican in the privacy of the polling booth. In 1984, Republican Ronald Reagan won 46 percent of votes from union households at a time when union leadership overwhelmingly supported Democrat Walter Mondale.
And in 2016, only 51 percent of union household voters backed Hillary Clinton, down from 58 percent that voted for President Barack Obama four years earlier.
Trump is doubling down on working class voters and union labor. His fingerprints were all over the Republican National Committee’s platform to “put American workers first,” a pledge that Ager used as a poster prop during Thursday’s press conference.
“We’re here to help make that happen,” Ager said Thursday.
The unions represented at Thursday’s announcement included the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, the New Hampshire Building and Construction Trades Council, the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire SEA/SEIU.
NH AFL-CIO President Glenn Brackett, whose union is not endorsing a single Republican this year, said “elected officials have the moral responsibility to explore every opportunity to build relationships with anyone that wants to talk to us.”
“We have a big diversity of union members in this state, and they don’t always share the views of one party,” Brackett added. “Our members’ views on many issues are as diverse as our collective memberships.
Rich Gulla, president of the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire, SEIU 1984, speaks at NHGOP presser on August 29, 2024.
(CREDIT: Robert Heyer)
“We welcome this opportunity to open a line of communication in the effort to find common ground.”
The NH SEA/SEIU is the most aggressive in expanding its bipartisan outreach in the state. It hosted GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie during the First in the Nation presidential primary season, and has taken the unusual step of endorsing both Republican former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington in their respective gubernatorial primaries.
Ager said he’s “not disappointed at all” that major New Hampshire unions, including those represented at Thursday’s press conference, have already embraced a significant majority of Democratic candidates over Republican ones.
“It’s a challenge for us to put policy issues on the table that address their needs, and you can’t do that if you’re not talking,” he said. “My goal is that it will change in the future.”
NH SEA/SEIU President Rich Gulla called Thursday’s event “a significant step” toward “collaboration of labor and political leadership.”
Asked by NHJournal if he’s received any pushback from Democrats in his ranks, Gulla described his union’s membership as “evenly divided in thirds” between Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
“We’ve endorsed Republican candidates in the past and we’re endorsing Republican candidates right now,” he added. “We have a Republican caucus within our labor union, so I think those members are going to be very excited.”
NH Building Trades Union President David Spechulli said, “The ability for someone to have a good job and to provide for their family is not a partisan issue.”
The NHGOP’s seven-member labor outreach committee includes state Sen. Howard Pearl (R-Loudon), state Rep. Dennis Mannion (R-Salem), state Rep. Arnold Davis (R-Berlin), state Rep. Fred Doucette (R-Salem), state Rep. Stephen Pearson (R-Derry), a lieutenant with the Manchester Fire Department, retired Bristol Police Sgt. Aaron Chapple, and a chairman’s representative from the NHGOP’s executive committee.
“The reason we have this committee is so that we can look at all of the issues that might create a distance between the Republican Party and unions,” Ager said. “I’ve asked that committee to look at the entire waterfront of issues, to say, ‘Hey, what can we work together on?’”
“I have one major message: Union members are welcome in the Republican Party,” Ager said.
