The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has made a significant announcement that it will not be endorsing any candidate for the 2024 presidential race.
This decision comes as a surprise, considering the union's executive board had previously thrown its support behind Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
According to The Post Millennial, IAFF President Edward Kelly revealed that the union's executive board made the decision not to endorse either Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or GOP candidate Donald Trump by a slim margin of 1.2 percent. Kelly emphasized the union's commitment to its members and their concerns, stating, "Over the past year, the IAFF took unprecedented steps to hear our members views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them."
Kelly further explained the union's stance, saying, "As we have over our 106-year history, the IAFF will continue its work to improve the lives of firefighters and their families. The IAFF Executive Board determined that we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity."
This development follows a similar decision by the Teamsters union, which also declined to endorse any candidate in the upcoming election, despite having supported Biden in the previous one.
The decision by the IAFF, which has traditionally backed the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 1984 to 2012, has been seen as a significant shift. GOP Rep Carlos Gimenez, a retired IAFF member with 25 years of service in the Miami Fire Department, described the decision as a "big deal" and a potential boost for Trump.
Gimenez told the New York Post, "Im pretty sure there was a big struggle for some people that wanted to endorse President Trump and some people wanted to endorse Kamala Harris. Its not the same thing that happened four years ago when they were the first union to endorse President Biden. Its a big shift in that union not giving an endorsement."
Gimenez also speculated that the majority of the union's membership would have preferred to endorse Trump. He concluded, "So, I think this was a good day for President Trump. This is the second major union that has failed to endorse the Democratic nominee thats a big deal." This decision by the IAFF may be indicative of a broader shift within the union, reflecting a potential change in political alignment among its members.
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