The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) has declined to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket, a decision announced after Senator JD Vance (R-OH) addressed their event in August. IAFF President Edward Kelly revealed this information on Thursday, following a meeting of the executive board during which the decision was reached.
“Today, the IAFF Executive Board, by a margin of 1.2 percent, voted to not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election,” he announced, noting that IAFF took “unprecedented steps to hear out members’ views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them” over the last year.
“As we have over our 106-year history, the IAFF will continue its work to improve the lives of firefighters and their families,” Kelly continued, contending that the Executive Board determined that “we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder.”
“This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity,” he continued, encouraging members to get out and “make their voices heard in the upcoming election.”
International Association of Firefighters, an early Biden endorser in April 2019: “Today, the IAFF Executive Board, by a margin of 1.2%, voted to not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election."
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) October 3, 2024
