Major firefighters union declines to endorse a presidential candidate for 2024

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) on Thursday refused to endorse a presidential candidate in next month's election, marking another union loss for Vice President and Democratic hopeful Kamala Harris.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate last month, after a roundtable with both major presidential contenders earlier in the year. The union leaders claimed it was unable to secure certain promises from the campaigns that tilted their support in either direction. However, multiple Teamster chapters later endorsed Harris.

The IAFF leadership said it held a membership vote on whether to endorse a candidate for 2024, which determined by a 1.2 percentage points margin that they would not publicly throw their support behind a specific candidate. 

“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,” union President Edward Kelly said in a statement. “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.”

The union previously endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, per The Hill, and even supported his presidential bid in 2019 during the Democratic primaries. Biden has since lauded himself as the "most pro-union president in history."

Although the decision is a major blow to Harris' presidential campaign, she has already secured the support of several other major labor unions, including the United Auto Workers union. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.