Harris vulnerability with union voters creates risks for Michigan, Pennsylvania

Kamala Harris’s lack of traction with unionized blue-collar workers has emerged as one of her biggest challenges to winning key states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, as polls show her significantly underperforming Joe Biden’s performance with union workers in 2020.

Harris’s tenuous relationship with elements of organized labor is reflected by the decisions of the Teamsters and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) not to endorse her presidential campaign.

She narrowly avoided disaster when President Biden helped avert a prolonged a port workers strike by brokering a tentative labor deal with the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance on Thursday.

Especially concerning for Democrats is that Harris isn’t even polling as well as Hillary Clinton did in 2016 among union voters.

Notably, Clinton ended up losing two key states, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where unions represent more than 14 percent of the workforce.