AFSCME Members Endorse Patrick Murphy for U.S. Senate

AFSCME Members Endorse Patrick Murphy for U.S. Senate

AFSCME Largest Organization to Endorse in Key Senate Campaign

Miami Springs, FL – Today, the men and women of AFSCME Florida announced that Congressman Patrick Murphy has earned their endorsement in his campaign for U.S. Senate.

The endorsement, recommended by Florida members and made by AFSCME International, makes the 1.6-million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, the largest union, and one of the largest organizations overall, to endorse Rep. Murphy.

"Over the past many months we have heard from our members across Florida, and their response is clear: Patrick Murphy is the leader Florida's working families need in the U.S. Senate,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “In Washington, Patrick is working to provide new leadership by bringing people together to grow the middle class and help working families.”

“No matter if it is here in South Florida where he was born and raised or at membership meetings in Pensacola, organizing drives in Jacksonville and Orlando, Congressman Murphy has made a concerted effort to listen to us and share his plans to tackle the issues our country faces,” said Corey Taylor, a member of AFSCME Local 871 who is a waste equipment operator for the City of Miami solid waste department. 

“I'm humbled and excited by AFSCME's support for our campaign,” said Congressman Patrick E. Murphy. “This country's middle class was built by strong unions, and they remain the stalwart supporter of working families across Florida and across America. In the U.S. Senate, I will fight for working families -- for workers' rights, for better wages, and for a vibrant middle class.”

Over the past several months, AFSCME Florida members have met and debated the platforms of each candidate running for Florida’s open Senate seat and moved forward with the endorsement recommendation once Rep. Murphy became the clear choice of a super majority of the membership.  

“AFSCME members, like voters everywhere, are looking for someone who will stop with all the cheap political points and pointless grandstanding and actually work to get something done,” said Andy Madtes, Executive Director for AFSCME Florida 979 Organizing Committee.

"Our members across the Sunshine State are ready to work for Patrick, because they know Patrick will fight to raise the minimum wage, protect seniors in retirement by strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and will stand by the unions that built America's middle class," President Saunders added.

“Election Day 2016 is less than a year away and with so much at stake, with so many important races on the ballot, we can only make sure the voices of working families and retirees are heard loud and clear if we get involved now and organize our communities like never before” said David Jacobsen, an AFSCME Florida retiree leader in Tallahassee.