Labor Training Resources on Three Key Senate Races

By Julie Sobel  //  October 5, 2012 | 3:24 p.m.

Speaking with reporters in Washington this week, AFL-CIO political director Michael Podhorzer singled out the Ohio, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Senate races as key contests for the labor movement-- not just for Democrats maintaining the majority, but also for electing strong allies in the upper chamber.

Podhorzer met with reporters Wednesday to discuss the 2012 election landscape, and said something that was "really exciting" for them was the number of progressives running for Senate.

"We're looking at having a more pro-worker Democratic caucus, not just more D's," said Podhorzer. "So, races such as Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown, those are really key races, both for Democrats retaining the majority and for working people to have really strong advocates when the next Congress commences. We're feeling pretty good about that. In all three of those races, the blue-collar vote is really the pivotal swing group."

Brown, Warren, and Baldwin are all in competitive races -- but each appears to be in relatively good shape as we head into the final month of the campaign. Two of the states -- Ohio and Wisconsin -- are also important to the AFL-CIO's efforts in the presidential race.

Brown, widely seen as a progressive hero, has seen a bigger onslaught of outside money directed at him than any other Senate candidate in the country -- closing in on $20 million this week. But he has led GOP Treasurer Josh Mandel in recent polls, sometimes by double digits. Unlike many Democratic senators up for reelection in swing states, Brown didn't distance himself from President Obama during the campaign. Now, Obama also appears to be in good shape in recent Ohio polls.

Warren has never held elective office before, but is beloved by progressives around the nation due to her advocacy for the Consumer Financial Protection Board (and if not for the agreement she and Sen. Scott Brown struck to keep outside outside TV advertising out of the race, she would certainly be seeing massive amounts of outside money being spent against her, too). Warren has made protecting the middle class a central theme of her campaign, and she and Brown have been competing for blue-collar voters in the tight contest. Recent polls have showed the Democrat pulling ahead. Baldwin is another progressive star, and many have wondered if the Madison congresswoman was too liberal to win the Senate contest. But after polls showed her initially lagging behind former Gov. Tommy Thompson after he won the August GOP primary, recent surveys show her up by varying margins. "In Ohio, despite the nearly $20 million in advertising against him, Sen. Brown looks to be in pretty good shape," said Podhorzer. "Baldwin and Warren are a little bit ahead, and if we can put the blue-collar vote up a little bit more, I think both of those races come home. And the Democrats have to pick up a couple more and they retain control."

Read & Post Comments
Leave A Comment
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus
Follow National Journal
About

Staff


Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief
Steve Shepard, Executive Editor
Julie Sobel, Editor
Kevin Brennan, Deputy Editor


Disclaimer


On Call editors reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments. The Hotline, National Journal Group, Inc. and Atlantic Media Company are not responsible for the content of the comments that remain.