LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville chapter of the United Auto Workers is weighing in on the Democratic 'veepstakes,' telling WHAS11 Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear should be Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.
"I say he gets it," UAW Local 862 President Todd Dunn said Thursday. "What I've experienced, I want everyone across the United States to see that. I believe America needs Andy Beshear to be vice president."
Dunn's interview came hours after national UAW President Shawn Fain told CNN that Beshear is one of the labor union's top two choices, listing Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as the other, saying they "resonate high with our union." Fain said he's "a huge Andy Beshear fan."
Dunn doubled down on the sentiments, even going a step further in his support for the governor.
"He is the only candidate that I see right now that is going to fight for working men and women, that is going to change the paradigm and the thought process – when it comes to thinking red or blue – and getting back to where we need to be," Dunn said.
Beshear has called himself pro-union, dating back to his days as Kentucky's attorney general. He most recently visited the picket line in October 2023, bringing sandwiches after thousands of Ford Kentucky Truck Plant workers went on strike.
Dunn said gestures like that have gone a long way with the union's more than 12,000 local Ford employees, no matter their political affiliation.
"He turned red county after red county after red county blue, when the cards were stacked against us -- because of his views, because how he wants to help Kentuckians, he unites Kentucky," Dunn told WHAS11.
It's being reported Harris' campaign is doing formal interviews with potential running mate contenders this week. There has been no confirmation yet whether Beshear has done -- or will do -- one.
But we do know that outside of an event in Oklahoma Thursday night, the governor's schedule has been free of public events over the last two days.
Harris is expected to make her vice president pick by next Tuesday.
The UAW has more than 400,000 active members and nearly 600,000 retired members.
D. Stephen Voss, associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, told WHAS11 that having unions throw their weight behind Beshear "might help him get past the conventional wisdom that he wouldn't help Harris swing a battleground state."
"With Michigan's governor no longer in the 'veepstakes' and Beshear getting support from the auto workers, it's clearer that Beshear can help a Harris ticket in swing states distant from Kentucky," Voss said over email.
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