Big Labor Candidates Had Nowhere to Hide

Union boss-appeasing GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and pro-Right to Work GOP candidates  (inset from left to right) Gabe Evans, Tom Barrett, and Nick Begich.
Even as union boss-appeasing GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer went down to defeat, pro-Right to Work GOP candidates like (inset from left to right) Gabe Evans, Tom Barrett, and Nick Begich won underdog election bids (Credit: Central Oregon Daily / C-SPAN-2 / YouTube; Inset: Gabe Evans for Congress, Sen. Tom Barrett (X, formerly Twitter), & Club for Growth Foundation).

Politicians Suffer Consequences of Refusal to Back Right to Work

Capitol Hill support for national Right to Work legislation that would revoke Big Labor’s federally granted power to extract forced union dues and fees from workers as a job condition already stands at an all-time high — and is likely to go even higher during the 2025-26 Congress. 

And the persistence and generosity of National Right to Work Committee members and supporters are behind the growing strength of the opposition to compulsory unionism. 

The Committee’s success in identifying, informing and mobilizing grassroots Right to Work supporters through its Survey 2024 program is a key reason for the failure this fall of Big Labor’s scheme to secure operational control over the U.S. House and retain operational control over the U.S. Senate. 

As the campaign wound down, union kingpins believed their forced dues-funded get-out-the-vote drives and paid “volunteers,” along with persistent public concerns about the GOP’s undeniably controversial presidential nominee, could put Big Labor’s candidates over the top in close races.

Letters, Emails and Ads Let Pro-Right to Work Citizens Know Where Candidates Stood 

Union strategists calculated they would be able to maintain their grip over the White House while picking off at least a few pro-Right to Work congressmen in order to attain full control of Washington. They even thought they might pick up a Senate seat or two. 

But throughout the last several weeks of the 2024 campaign, the Committee’s federal candidate survey program ensured that politicians who had thought their pro-forced union stance would remain hidden were held accountable. 

Among them were Big Labor U.S. Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), and Susan Wild (DPa.), along with two Senate challengers who fell short in key union boss-targeted races, Colin Allred (D-Texas) and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.). 

To mobilize Right to Work supporters, the Committee distributed a total of nearly 5.4 million federal Survey 2024 “information letters” through the U.S. Postal Service. 

Above and beyond that, Survey 2024 had a massive Internet component, including nearly 1.5 million emails transmitted in early November. All this plus targeted multimedia advertising, including social media. 

The letters, emails and ads let pro-Right to Work citizens know where their candidates stood. And most of the letters were mailed out during the fall to specifically targeted states and districts across the country. 

In a year in which the political climate seemed to be favorable for Big Labor backed candidates, the survey program strongly encouraged candidates to stand up for the Right to Work. 

In the end, opponents of forced unionism were able to secure operational control over the U.S. House and Senate.

Candidates Must Choose: Repudiate Forced Unionism, or Face Political Consequences 

The negative results of kowtowing to Big Labor cross party lines. A GOP case in point is Oregon U.S Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, one of just six incumbents of her party to be defeated in November. 

Ignoring pleas from her constituent supporters, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer refused to support the National Right to Work Act. She even went so far as to become one of just three House Republicans to cosponsor the so-called “PRO” Act, which would repeal all 26 state Right to Work laws while expanding Big Labor’s monopoly privileges in multiple other ways. 

Her craven attempt to appease the union hierarchy flopped. She alienated her overwhelmingly pro-Right to Work base of supporters without winning over any significant number of new backers, and ultimately lost her race. 

Right to Work President Mark Mix commented: “Unlike most Republican politicians who sell out their core supporters by opposing Right to Work, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer did ultimately get a number of union endorsements. But Big Labor didn’t furnish her with anything that would help her get reelected. 

“Meanwhile, in other key House races the Right to Work issue made the difference in preventing a union-boss takeover of the chamber. 

“In several races, gains that had been predicted by pundits for union boss-backed Democrats never materialized. 

“Instead, pro-Right to Work Reps. Scott Perry [R-Pa.], Jen Kiggans [R-Va.], Juan Ciscomani [R-Ariz.], Ken Calvert [R-Calif.], Mariannette Miller-Meeks [R-Iowa], and Zach Nunn ([R-Iowa] were reelected. 

“These holds, plus pickups by Reps.- elect Gabe Evans [R-Colo.], Tom Barrett [R-Mich.], and Nick Begich [R-Alaska], show that taking a strong stand for worker freedom is smarter than fence-sitting or selling out to forced unionism.”


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