Labor unions starting to endorse Iowa candidates

Labor unions are just starting to endorse candidates for 2026. It’s still very early for this, but here are a few I’ve seen so far:

• Rob Sand, running for governor, was endorsed by Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa (SEIU);
• Zach Wahls, running for US Senate, was endorsed by Teamsters Local 90 and Ironworkers Local 89;
• Nate Willems, running for attorney general, was endorsed by Teamsters Local 238 and SEIU.

(A reader wrote in to tell me the Iowa Federation of Labor endorsed both Sand and Willems; as of this writing, I have not yet verified this.)

SEIU in particular noted it was endorsing candidates “willing to stand with working families to grow the labor movement, increase wages, and lower healthcare costs.”

“Working people in our state have seen prices skyrocket while wages haven’t kept up for most of us, all while the rich get richer,” the union wrote. “We’re tired of politicians who stand by while Medicaid is cut and cheer on policies that hurt families in our state.”

And the worst policies are coming from the top.

The BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of environmental and labor organizations, made a Labor Day list of President Donald Trump’s anti-worker policies:

• Stripped collective bargaining rights from more than 80% of the federal workforce;
• Cost the nation 37,000 manufacturing jobs since April, then fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for reporting it;
• Left the National Labor Relations Board with just one member, effectively shutting it down (and now it’s been ruled unconstitutional, a gift to corporate union-busters—watch a video on that here);
• Cut the minimum wage for workers on federal contracts by 25%.

To that, I’d also add: deporting 200,000 immigrant workers (and scaring 1.5 million others into leaving the US), decimating this country’s immigrant workforce en masse with zero due process.

“This is how President Trump is commemorating Labor Day: continuing his administration’s all-out attack on workers and unions,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler after his recent gutting of more federal unions.

If there aren’t labor endorsements of Republicans this cycle, I suppose all of that might be why.

It’s likely more endorsements will be coming as candidates drop out, and especially once the primaries winnow the field. But it’s also an open question of whether union endorsements move the needle.

Are you in a union? Does your union’s endorsement (or lack thereof) influence your vote? Am I missing an endorsement? Email me.