Labor unions are going to look at governor races, not the House and Senate, when 2014 campaign season rolls around, a top political strategist for the AFL-CIO said on Tuesday.
ALF-CIO political director Michael Podhorzer said in a press conference in Washington that Capitol Hill gridlock means unions will take their fights on a more local level — the states.
State politics “is the area that is going to be most consequential for people’s lives,” he said, USA Today reported.
Unions would look to protect some key Senate seats, and launch a high-profile attack to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Mr. Podhorzer said, in USA Today. But those races aren’t topping the unions’ priority lists.
The races that are the unions’ top attention-grabbers: Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, Rick Snyder in Michigan, Paul LePage in Maine and Rick Scott in Florida, he said, in USA Today.
“Our focus is really going to be at the state level because that’s where we think that our constituents — working class families, working families — are going to have the most at stake over the following four years,” Mr. Podhorzer said, in the report. “All of them have in one way or the other slashed the safety net and education in their states, have pursued tax breaks and other benefits for the affluent.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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