Unions To Spend Well Over $100M For Midterms

Two major unions, SEIU and AFSCME, plan to spend around $100 million between themselves on the upcoming November elections where every seat in the House and a third of the Senate is at stake. In March, the AFL-CIO said they are looking to exceed the $53 million they spent on the 2008 election.

But this time around the strategy is a bit different. While unions were critical in building and expanding the Democratic majorities in 2006 and 2008, there plan this year is to save that majority. Incumbent protection is the name of the game as offense has switched to defense.

Gerry McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (or AFSCME) said the union plans on spending “in excess” of $50 million as they have eight Senate seats and 34 House seats in their top tier program. “We have got to protect the incumbency in the House. We have got to protect the incumbency in the Senate… We are not out there looking for new seats. We have our hands full the way it is,” McEntee said.

Another major player, SEIU, is looking to spend about $44 million which they began spending last year thanking legislators for supporting healthcare reform. They currently have a list of 15 top-priority House districts that they are hoping to keep in the Democratic column. “In the past, we have not paid as much attention to incumbent protection as we have this year,” said Jon Youngdahl, national political director for the union.

The AFL-CIO, who are yet to give specifics on spending plans, said they plan to be active in Senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns in 18 states along with 60 to 70 House races throughout the country.

While labor’s top priority- the Employee Free Choice Act- has yet to come to fruition (and most likely won’t before November), it appears the biggest issue when it comes to supporting and defending an incumbent is the members vote on healthcare. In fact, many unions are opposing or not supporting Democrats who had co-sponsored or supported EFCA in the past if they opposed the healthcare legislation.