New York, NY – Today UNITE HERE celebrates the dedicated work of thousands of hospitality workers in swing states and competitive electoral districts across the country, whose work contributed to successfully flipping a US Senate seat in Nevada and the still too close to call Arizona Senate race.  With the union’s largest ever direct voter contact campaign, undertaken in cities across the United States, UNITE HERE is proud that our members have played a larger role in politics than ever before in the 2018 midterm elections.

“In what has been our most robust political program yet, UNITE HERE made an incredible impact in 2018, including knocking on nearly one million doors between two of the top swing states in the country,” said D. Taylor, International President of UNITE HERE. “In Nevada alone, our members knocked on 385,000 doors and had individual conversations with 84,000 likely voters. In Arizona, we expanded the electorate by 30,000 new voters this year with our voter registration campaign, knocked on 400,000 doors of likely voters, and spoke with 80,000 persuadable voters.”

In addition to Nevada and Arizona, UNITE HERE ran major political programs in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Alaska, and several other states, with workers speaking directly to their neighbors about what our union does every day: fight for workers—at the bargaining table, at the workplace, and at the ballot box.

“For our members, election day is every day as each day of the year UNITE HERE fights for better healthcare, for one job to be enough, and for dignity and security for our families,” said President Taylor. “Make no mistake: election days are important, but we never rest. We will wake up tomorrow ready to hold our candidates accountable and turn election outcomes into real advances for workers in this country. Whether through electing candidates who support workers, winning contracts that transform our industries, or organizing non-union workers, UNITE HERE will never stop being a tireless advocate advancing the causes of all who fight alongside working class people.”

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UNITE HERE represents 270,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in the U.S. and Canada.