3 minPolitics
Teamsters leader O'Brien endorses Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in Florida
Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien publicly endorsed Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida days before the midterm elections, a rare break from the national union movement's usual support for Democrats.
Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien endorsed Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida over the weekend, a move that surprised political observers and marked a notable departure from the national labor movement's tendency to back Democratic candidates. O'Brien announced the endorsement on Sunday, saying he had just voted in Florida for the first time and was proud to have cast his ballot for Moody.
In his announcement, O'Brien credited Moody with working alongside the Teamsters to protect workers' pensions, defend well-paying jobs and support well-funded union apprenticeship programs. He said the union looked forward to working with Moody in her role on the Senate HELP Committee to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act and send the legislation to the president for signature. The Teamsters represent about 1.3 million members and date back 123 years.
O'Brien, who describes himself as a lifelong Democrat, has a history of crossing party lines in public. He spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, but said at the time that the Democratic Party had declined his request to speak at its own convention. Responding to criticism of his appearance in Moody's corner, he said that if the far left wanted to attack him that was fine, and if the far right wanted to do the same that was great, because he represented 1.3 million hardworking men and women.
Moody, a former state attorney general, said in a statement that she was proud to have O'Brien's support and pledged to keep fighting for hardworking Americans, strengthen good-paying jobs and ensure resources exist to train the next generation. Her Democratic opponent, Angie Nixon, a state lawmaker from Jacksonville whose platform is considered aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, responded on X by posting a photo of herself with O'Brien and writing that Moody had never walked the picket line with him. Nixon also thanked rank-and-file Teamsters who were voting for her and said she would always stand with them.
O'Brien also drew criticism for voting in Florida rather than in his hometown of Boston, which some commenters read as a sign of his alignment with a state that has enacted anti-union measures. Some critics called him a "scab," union slang for a worker who crosses a strike line, a charge leveled at a union leader who backs a candidate from a party that has opposed organized labor in its state. The endorsement came as polls were set to open nationwide within hours, making it one of the more closely watched labor political moves of the final stretch of the campaign.
Source: foxnews.com
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