July 22, 2024

HOUSTON - UUP members at AFT’s 2024 Conference joined nearly 1,500 delegates from across the country in casting a unanimous vote July 22 to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president.

With its endorsement, the AFT became the first major labor union to endorse Harris.

“Like the overwhelming majority of AFT delegates, we thank President Biden for selflessly placing the needs of the country over his own,” said UUP President Fred Kowal, an AFT vice president who voted with AFT’s Executive Council July 21 to endorse Harris. “We welcome the endorsement of Vice President Harris, someone who shares our values and morals and who will fight for the things we believe in.”

Harris quickly became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden announced July 21 that he planned to drop out of the race. Later that day, he endorsed Harris to run in his place as president.

Delegates at AFT’s biennial conference at Houston’s sprawling George R. Brown Convention Center cheered loudly and waved signs that said “Kamala Harris for President” as NYSUT President Melinda Person offered a resolution to endorse Harris. Seven speakers stepped up to microphones to back Harris before the question was called.

“The fact that she is a fighter against gun violence, the fact that she is a fighter for people with student debt, the fact that she’s been in 20 states this year fighting to expand reproductive health, she is a fighter,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a July 21 Instagram message after the Executive Council voted to endorse Harris. “She can prosecute the case against Donald Trump and she can make the case for working people and for families in America.”

AFT and its state and local affiliates will provide the “necessary” resources and support to help get out the vote for Harris in November, according to the resolution—which was approved for the sake of “our families, our communities, our democracy and ourselves.”

“I am so proud to have been part of this historic vote, which is a strong first step toward electing Kamala Harris as the first woman president of the United States,” said UUP Secretary-Treasurer Jeri O’Bryan-Losee.

About 25 UUP members are at the AFT conference as delegates, including statewide Vice President for Professionals Carolyn Kube and statewide Vice President for Academics Alissa Karl.

Read AFT's resolution that endorsed Harris HERE.