Unions place early bets on Republicans in key Ohio races

Organized labor is shifting to the right in Ohio, where several unions have issued surprisingly early endorsements of Republicans in the state’s races for governor and U.S.

Organized labor is shifting to the right in Ohio, where several unions have issued surprisingly early endorsements of Republicans in the state’s races for governor and U.S. Senate.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire closely aligned with President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, already has three labor groups backing him for governor in 2026, with the most recent nod coming this week from the Central Midwest Carpenters Union. And Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance’s old Senate seat, has two supporting him in next year’s special election to fill the remainder of Vance’s term.

The endorsements on their own aren’t a total shock, coming from groups that occasionally back GOP candidates in a state where unions have been spreading their political donations more evenly between the two parties. In Ohio, voters from households with at least one union member favored Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris, 54%-45%, in last year's general election, according to NBC News exit polling — part of a broader, long-term shift around the U.S.

But the timing of Ramaswamy and Husted’s labor endorsements, nine months before the May 2026 primaries, has raised eyebrows. The Democratic field for governor is unsettled, with former Rep. Tim Ryan, a labor-friendly candidate who lost the Senate race to Vance in 2022, expected to decide whether to run soon.

Meanwhile, Husted’s endorsement last month from the Northwest Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council came days after former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who has made his support for labor central to his political identity, launched a campaign for Husted's seat.