Huge Hillary-Supporting Unions Flip, Fully Endorse Republican
Two unions that were all-in for Hillary Clinton in 2016 have changed their political stripes for the looming mid-term elections, and are supporting Minnesota Republican congressman Jason Lewis as he seeks his second term.
Lewis is facing Democrat Angie Craig, a former health care executive, in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Lewis defeated Craig in their first matchup.
Lewis has garnered the endorsement of the carpenters’ union and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49.
“In Jason’s time in Congress he has cast repeated votes in support of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and has led on the issue of changing school curriculum to encourage more people to look at careers in the construction industry,” said carpenters’ union spokesman Adam Duininck.
“Jason Lewis has made an effort to get to know our union, understand our issues, and has taken politically tough stances in support of good-paying union jobs,” Local 49 business manager Jason George said in a statement, according to the Free Beacon.
“We don’t always agree on every issue, but we know that when it comes to supporting our jobs, he has stood with us, and that is why we are standing with him.”
In a commentary piece in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Lewis wrote that the Trump tax cuts of 2017 are in danger if Democrats gain power.
“Even after seeing 1.8 million new jobs created since tax reform, record low unemployment, and worker pay and benefits rising at the fastest pace in a decade, Democrats are promising to rescind the reform because it allows too many people to keep more of their own money,” he wrote.
“Just as in the 1960s, the Democrat Party has been radicalized, and once again voters are facing a ‘rendezvous with destiny’ that will determine the future of Minnesota and the nation,” he wrote.
Not only tax reform could be in danger, he noted.
“If you thought the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were good for the country, you’ll love Congress with a Speaker Nancy Pelosi and my congressional opponent in charge (she has taken $30,000-plus from Pelosi). As Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, ‘This is what the so-called “resistance” has become,’ and it’s bound to get worse if some of the most dangerous rhetoric encouraging this brand of reckless politics is rewarded with power,” he wrote.
In a recent debate, Lewis said promoting economic growth is at the heart of his actions in Congress.
“We’ve got the greatest economy since 1969, according to the unemployment statistics. We’ve got median after-tax income up 6 percent, wages going up, bonuses going up, utility bills coming down,” he said, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
At that debate, Craig said the current tax cut favored the wealthy over the middle class.
The two candidates also differ on immigration.
Craig said anyone in the country illegally should have a path to citizenship.
Lewis said President Donald Trump’s border wall must be a part of any long-term immigration solution.
“Let’s secure the border and part of that’s got to be a wall,” he said, according to MPR. “Their side said, ‘Nope, we’re not doing that. You just give us what we want. No wall.'”
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