The United Auto Workers (UAW) officially backed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, as she works to solidify her candidacy for the upcoming presidential election.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the UAW highlighted Harris as a strong advocate for workers, criticizing Republican candidate Donald Trump. They stated, “We can either elect a billionaire who opposes everything our union stands for or choose @KamalaHarris, who will join us in our fight against corporate greed.”
With a membership exceeding 400,000, the UAW is one of the largest labor unions in the U.S. This endorsement wasn’t unexpected, given their earlier support for President Biden, who recently exited the race. Trump has previously sought the UAW’s endorsement but has also critiqued the union’s president, Shawn Fain.
Julia Beverly/Getty Images
The UAW noted that Harris plans a trip to Detroit on August 7 to connect with Michigan voters and rally support from “thousands of working-class individuals.”
“Our goal this election is to defeat Donald Trump and support Kamala Harris in her commitment to working-class Americans,” Fain stated.
Harris has gained significant momentum since kicking off her 2024 campaign. Recent polling data from The Economist/YouGov shows that Harris has either trimmed or completely erased Trump’s lead following Biden’s withdrawal.
In a hypothetical matchup, the poll revealed that 46% of respondents preferred Harris, compared to 44% for Trump—a lead that is just within the poll’s 3.3% margin of error. Survey data was collected between July 27 to July 30.
Previous polls indicated Trump’s lead over Biden, with figures of 42% to 40% at the end of June and 43% to 41% in mid-July.
The recent poll from The Economist/YouGov also showed Harris enjoying a better favorability rating compared to Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance. With a net favorability of negative 4 points, Harris outperformed Trump’s negative 9 and Vance’s negative 11 ratings.
This week, Harris also made strides in key swing states, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll, where she captured a 1-point lead over Trump across seven battleground states, which include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
At the start of the month, the same poll had shown Biden trailing Trump by 2 percentage points in those states.