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Anatomy of an endorsement: Why the UAW chose El-Sayed, Benson
The United Auto Workers (UAW) endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for Michigan’s open U.S. senate seat and Jocelyn Benson for Governor.
For UAW Region 1A Director Mark DePaoli, this move puts the union “back at the forefront” in terms of political influence.
To determine which candidate receives their endorsement, DePaoli said the UAW Community Action Program (CAP) Board schedules meetings with candidates to ask questions and vote on who best reflects their values.
“They ask a lot of tough questions because they want to be able to hold the candidates accountable for their answers,” DePaoli said.
UAW rules require a two-thirds majority of CAP board member to agree in order for an endorsement to be made.
“The best part about it is whether you’re one of the CAP reps from the plant, you’re one of the three Michigan directors, or you’re the president of the UAW, everybody’s vote weighs the same,” DePaoli said.
Selecting a senate candidate
The CAP representatives came from each plant and facility represented by UAW, DePaoli said, and ended up voting in favor of El-Sayed.
Another way UAW members learn more about the candidates and their beliefs is through a public debate in which the candidates discuss their values.
“It was live stream for all of our members, and the consensus at the end of that debate amongst everybody that was talking was that Abdul was the clear-cut winner,” DePaoli said.
The vote was a surprise in some circles since the other two candidates—Congresswoman Haley Stevens and State Senator Mallory McMorrow—both have some background in the auto industry.
Stevens worked on the 2009 auto bailout in the Obama Administration. McMorrow trained as car designer. In autoworker-heavy Michigan, both candidates have leaned into drawing the interest of organized labor.
DePaoli said he was “dreading” the endorsement decision because each candidate had values that the UAW supported, but he decided that El-Sayed would be best suited to tackle the issue of healthcare, which DePaoli referred to as “the biggest problem” for the majority of Americans.
“We seem to be the only country where it’s acceptable for big business to make profit off of our illnesses,” DePaoli said. “Why not a health care expert in the U.S. Senate to help try and fix some of these problems?”
El-Sayed said he was “deeply honored” to receive the endorsement from UAW. El-Sayed makes it a point that his campaign is built from union members instead of “corporate PAC money, AIPAC and Washington insiders.”
“Together, we’re going to take on corporate greed, rebuild an economy that works for working people, strengthen collective bargaining and ensure that the future of Michigan manufacturing is built right here by union workers,” El-Sayed said.
In the past, the UAW has almost exclusively endorsed Democratic candidates. According to DePaoli, UAW leadership invited all candidates for the U.S. Senate seat, and only three Democrats attended. Republican Mike Rogers did not attend.
“It makes it hard to endorse somebody that doesn’t even bother to come out and listen to the questions and hear the concerns of your membership, let alone give an answer,” DePaoli said. “I don’t think they even try to get Labor’s endorsement because they know they’re not going to vote any policies in favor of Labor.”
Why Jocelyn Benson?
In the race for Michigan Governor, Jocelyn Benson has a financial advantage over Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. She also has a lead in the polls.
According to DePaoli both candidates were worthy of backing and recently discussed their positions for the CAP board at UAW Local 600.
“Two great candidates coming from completely different backgrounds,” DePaoli said. “At the end of the day, we don’t completely trust in polls, but we were comfortable that Jocelyn Benson was the correct decision.”
None of the Republican candidates for governor showed up.
At the time, former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was in the race and in the forum.
“I think a lot of people were surprised at how well he did,” DePaoli said. “But I think everybody had gotten to a point to say, well, even if we don’t endorse him—if he does win— we’re comfortable that we can work with him and get things done for labor.”
Duggan dropped out citing concerns over money and no path to victory given a recent surge for democrats.
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