Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has landed the endorsement of the United Auto Workers a year after Ohio Democrats saw a series of labor unions abandon their Senate candidate for his Republican opponent.
The UAW's backing of Brown is hardly a surprise. Brown and labor are longtime allies.
“A few years ago, when our auto industry’s future was in doubt, it was Sherrod who stood with us,” said UAW Local 1112 president Glenn Johnson in a statement. “Together, we saved a sector that employs 848,000 Ohioans.”
In a video released Monday to accompany the endorsement, Brown thanked the UAW and credited them with leading the creation of the American middle class.
"For several decades, they've been higher wages, they've been fighting for better jobs and good job security and health benefits and pensions, and that's what we need to do in this Senate," Brown said.
Yet the unusual 2016 election threw many previously predictable political patterns into question - and not just at the presidential level.
Democratic ex-Gov. Ted Strickland saw several big labor unions - including the Teamsters, Fraternal Order of Police and the United Mine Workers - defect last cycle and back Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.
