Michigan Firefighters Union Declines to Endorse Kamala Harris in Presidential Election

The Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union (MPFFU) declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.

Matt Sahr, who serves as the President of the MPFFU explained to Politico that the union was “following” the recommendation from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), which recently declined to endorse Harris in the election.

Sahr told the outlet that while the union had decided to follow the request from the IAFF, the union had advised members that “Harris is the best choice” to support.

“We are following the IAFF recommendation on the presidential election,” Sahr explained. “However, we have made it clear to our members that our executive board believes Harris is the best choice for supporting our labor issues.”

 MPFFU’s decision to not endorse a candidate in the election comes after Edward Kelly, who serves as the General President of the IAFF called for “state firefighter unions” to opt out of issuing “presidential endorsements” during a call, several people close to the matter told the outlet:

During an internal virtual call last week, IAFF General President Edward Kellly asked state firefighter unions to not issue any of their own presidential endorsements, according to three people familiar with the call who were granted anonymity to discuss the matter. Kellly said other battleground states rolling out their own endorsements could ultimately hurt Harris, given Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Arizona could all come out against Harris in response.

In the IAFF’s announcement of the non-endorsement, Kelly revealed that “by a margin of 1.2 percent,” the union had decided “to not endorse a candidate.”

“Today, the IAFF Executive Board, by a margin of 1.2 percent, voted to not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election,” Kelly said.

While the MPFFU declined to endorse a candidate in the presidential election, the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) union revealed in a press release on Monday that they were endorsing Harris.

“Kamala Harris has always been a tremendous supporter of California’s firefighters,” CPF President Brian Rice said in a statement. “From her time as a local elected official to a statewide leader as our Attorney General and U.S. Senator to service as our nation’s Vice President, Kamala Harris has lifted up our work and delivered the resources firefighters need to protect California’s people and their property.”

The non-endorsement from the IAFF and the MPFFU comes after the Teamsters Union, decided not to endorse Harris or former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, though polling found that almost 60 percent of Teamster members support Trump, while 34 percent expressed support for Harris.