Historically, union leaders have been closely aligned with the Democratic Party, said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But the modern rank-and-file members, much like those at Local 180 in Racine, are more split, Burden said.
“There’s a little bit of a gap, I would say, between where unions as organizations stand relative to the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris, and where average union voters are,” he said.