Bidens' State of the Union guest list reflects president's election goal to woo union, women voters

The Biden family guest list for the president' prime-time State of the Union address Thursday night is largely filled with labor union members and women, each of whom will be a key part of the voter coalition he will need to win reelection. 

At least a quarter of the guests are union members while nearly a third of the other guests have connections to health care or abortion, according to the list published the morning of President Biden's address.

The list is officially the names of those invited to sit in first lady Jill Biden's box during her husband's address to Congress in House chambers. But it is released by the White House and is largely reflective of people who are politically important to the president. 

The most high-profile union member on the list is United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who endorsed Biden's 2024 bid last month.

Biden appears to be making an effort to gain blue-collar votes in the vital swing state of Michigan, where polls show he is below former President Donald Trump.

Fain is from Michigan, as is State of the Union guest Natalie King, whom the White House describes as the "founder and CEO of Dunamis Charge, the first African American women-owned electric vehicle charger manufacturing company in the United States."

Moving the U.S. from less fossil fuel toward more renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions was a key part of Biden's winning 2022 campaign agenda and remain at the top of his first-term agenda. 

In addition to the five union members who are on the guest list, Biden also invited six people who are connected to abortion or the healthcare field.

The most notable member of that group is Kate Cox, a Texas mother who traveled out of state last year to obtain an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality.

Biden also invited Latorya Beasley, an Alabama woman who had her first child through in vitro fertilization in 2022 and was in the process of another round of IVF when it was canceled due to the Alabama Supreme Court decision that embryos should be treated as children.

Two Alabama health clinics that had paused some IVF procedures last month in response to the court's decision now plan to resume treatments after the state enacted laws protecting IVF providers on Wednesday. 

Journalist and former California first lady Maria Shriver of the Kennedy political dynasty is also being invited for her work on advancing what the White House calls "some of our nation’s most pressing issues affecting women and women’s health." 

Additionally, Biden invited Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, whose nation formally joined the NATO Alliance on Wednesday. 

Biden is also touching on the Israel-Palestine conflict by inviting U.S. Navy Cmdr. Shelby Nikitin, a Bronze Star recipient. 

"Under her leadership, the ship deployed to protect maritime shipping from illegal, dangerous, and destabilizing Houthi attacks against vessels transiting the Red Sea," the White House said.

The Houthis, which the Biden administration relisted as terrorists earlier this year, have been launching attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea in support of Hamas after the group's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, then Israel declaring war on the Hamas.

A U.S. and U.K.-led coalition has been striking back against the Iran-backed group, which is based in Yemen. 

The president's guest list did not include anyone publicly associated with Israel, Islam, Judaism or the the Palestinians.

In each of his past two State of the Union addresses, Biden invited one union member, according to the guest lists from the 2022 and 2023 speeches. 

The 2022 address came months before the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, so he did not have any figures associated with the pro-choice or women's health movements. 

In 2023, Biden invited Texas couple Amanda and Josh Zurawski, after Amanda was unable to receive an abortion until she developed a life-threatening infection.

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