Teamsters union leaders support Republicans despite members endorsing Democratic candidates

Sean O'Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters speaks during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. Photograph: Matt Rourke/APView image in fullscreenSean O'Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters speaks during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. Photograph: Matt Rourke/APUS unionsTeamsters union leaders support Republicans despite members endorsing Democratic candidatesSean O’Brien, president of the 1.3-million strong union, was also the first to speak at the Republican national convention in 2o24

The powerful Teamsters union is backing Republican candidates in the 2026 election cycle even after members have voted to support their Democrat opponents.

The 1.3 million-strong union’s president, Sean O’Brien, angered many members and union leaders in 2024 when he became the first union president to speak at the Republican national convention (RNC).

The latest moves by the union’s leadership are further stoking tensions within the union.

“The Republicans have done nothing but take a gun to our head at every turn. And why we think that we can somehow change their behavior, I don’t understand it. It’s not a logical argument,” said John Palmer, who was elected on O’Brien’s slate in 2021 as an at-large vice-president on the Teamsters executive board, but who broke ranks in criticizing O’Brien’s RNC appearance in 2024. “I live in Texas. I’m a moderate guy, but I know when somebody’s trying to cut my throat.”

The national union declined to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election for the first time since 1996, claiming a majority of members supported Trump after they supported Biden in 2020, though Teamsters locals and councils representing 1 million members at the union independently endorsed Harris.

So far this election cycle, O’Brien has made two personal contributions – both to Republicans.

O’Brien donated $1,000 to the Republican US Senate campaign of Scott Brown in New Hampshire on 19 February 2026. Brown appeared on O’Brien’s podcast, Better Bad Ideas, on 25 February.

The only Teamsters’ local in New Hampshire, Teamsters Local 633, endorsed Brown’s Democratic rival Chris Pappas for the Senate race in April 2025. Teamsters Local 633 did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

O’Brien also made a $1,000 donation in May 2025 to another Republican, Markwayne Mullin, now Trump’s secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The two have clashed spectacularly in the past.

During a US Senate hearing in November 2023, Mullin challenged O’Brien to a fight while reading aloud social media posts made by O’Brien that were critical of Mullin. After Trump’s 2024 election win, Mullin and O’Brien publicly made amends during Lori Chavez Deremer’s confirmation hearings for secretary of labor in February 2025.

Teamsters local members and the Teamsters leadership are differing on endorsements in several key races.