Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is diversifying the union’s PAC to support Republicans, too. It wasn’t just 2024: the Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is signaling a more permanent realignment by donating to battleground Republicans in the upcoming midterms.
For the second year in a row, the labor union’s political arm donated to the Republicans’ House campaign arm after nearly two decades of mostly backing Democrats. The labor union’s D.R.I.V.E political action committee — Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education — gave the National Republican Congressional Committee $5,000 in the second quarter.
In addition to giving to the NRCC, Teamsters doled out a combined $62,000 in contributions to nearly two-dozen GOP congressional candidates, including in significant battleground districts:
- Rob Bresnahan, Mike Kelly and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
- Pete Stauber and Tom Emmer of Minnesota
- Nicole Malliotakis, Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota and Mike Lawler of New York
- Jefferson Shreve of Indiana
- Dave Taylor, Bob Latta, Michael Rulli and Dave Joyce of Ohio
- Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith of New Jersey
- David Rouzer of North Carolina
- Tom Barrett of Michigan
- Blake Moore of Utah
- Darin LaHood and Mike Bost of Illinois
- Troy Nehls of Texas
- Vern Buchanan of Florida
The group also gave this year to GOP Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jon Husted of Ohio, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.
And it’s not just Congress: the Teamsters’ political arm donated $50,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association this past June.
“Our members are working people whose interests cut across party lines,” Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokesperson, told POLITICO. “And there’s no value in living in a bubble … where you only talk to certain people to the exclusion of others.”
The group hasn’t forsaken Democrats — it still gives them more, including $15,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in April.
“Congressional Republicans have betrayed America’s workers and union members by selling out our communities for the GOP’s billionaire backers,