As the presidential race hits its stretch drive, the Republican and Democrat campaigns are eagerly awaiting a decision on which nominee the International Brotherhood of Teamsters will endorse.
The Teamsters are still working through their endorsement process, spokesperson Kara Deniz told The Hill on Monday, with member polling continuing through the end of the month and a scheduled roundtable with Vice President Kamala Harris on the horizon.
"We're going to work not on anyone else's but on our timeline, and that means that this is going to be a deliberative, thoughtful, engaging process that our members are directly engaged in," Deniz said.
Many of the nation's largest unions — including the United Auto Workers, the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the American Federation of Teachers — are backing Harris' campaign.
A Teamsters endorsement for a Republican presidential nominee is not unprecedented — the union backed Richard Nixon in 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Despite the organization's endorsement of the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien reportedly approached the Republican and Democratic national committees to request a speaking slot at their national conventions. O'Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention last month in Milwaukee but was not given a slot at the Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago.
In Milwaukee, O'Brien slammed "elites" whose only "loyalty is to the balance sheet," and challenged the notion that unions should fall in line with Democrat endorsements, saying "we have an obligation to do our due diligence" and "not just automatically support one side," The Hill reported. He noted the union's membership is made up of many Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
O'Brien's speech spurred Teamsters Vice President At-Large John Palmer to mount a bid to run against him for president when O'Brien's term is up in 2026, The Hill reported. Palmer said it was naive to believe that those who attended the Republican convention would support unions in "any way, shape, form, or matter."