Illinois Dems Push Delegates to Get Out The Vote with Labor
The Illinois delegation during the ceremonial DNC roll call Tuesday. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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Illinois Democrats kicked off the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with a clear message: Democrats and unions need to work hand in hand to get out the vote.
The morning opened with brief remarks from Business Manager of Plumbers Local 130 James Coyne, before he called up acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.
"Government can and should fight for the little guy," Su told the Illinois delegates at the Illinois delegation breakfast at a River North hotel. "It's about creating that table and bringing more people to it."
Su told of feeling "agonized" after former president Donald Trump was elected, but said eventually she and her family turned that despair into action.
"Illinois, you are where it begins," Su said. "We need every person to get out the vote."
The push from the Biden administration's top labor official dovetailed with Chicago's status as an anchor for the organized labor movement, and the broader theme of the second day at the DNC on highlighting labor -- and the explicit message they all need to show to win in November.
"You know, democracy isn't a spectator sport. I tell folks, I shouldn't have to prod you to think about voting, right? There's a certain responsibility involved,” said Congressman Mike Quigley (D-Chicago). "I'm going to be everywhere, getting folks out to vote."
Trump and the Republican Party have worked to make inroads with union members ever since he broke through the "Blue Wall" of Rust Belt states with increased support from rank and file union members.
Speaking with The Illinoize Monday, Illinois AFL-CIO resource director Amy Rueff noted that roughly 30 percent of union members are Republicans.
At the Republican convention in Milwaukee, the RNC welcomed Teamsters President Sean O'Brien to deliver a keynote -- the speech, however was poorly received, and O'Brien was kept off the stage at the DNC in Chicago.
The DNC also highlighted a construction worker from Alabama, Kyle Sweetser, who used to donate regularly to Trump, but is now supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
"I realized Trump wasn't for me, I realized he was for lining his own pocket," Sweetser said Tuesday night from the stage at the DNC.
lllinois Senate President Don Harmon said the support for labor hues to a longstanding adage in Democratic politics: "Democrats don’t win without organized labor, and organized labor puts everything at risk when Democrats don’t win."