SEIU to spend $200 million to get working class voters to back Biden, Democrats

The Service Employees International Union, which represents about 2 million health-care, property service and government workers, plans to spend $200 million to boost President Biden and Democrats in electoral battlegrounds across the country this year, officials at the group told The Washington Post.

The union is making its largest investment ever — after spending roughly $150 million in the 2020 presidential cycle — as it aims to reach 6 million voters of color and, more broadly, turn out working-class voters who are less likely to vote or have never voted, according to SEIU’s leaders. The significant spending plan in part reflects growing concern in Democratic circles about Biden’s ability to turn out working-class Black, Latino and Asian American voters — who made up a significant chunk of his base in 2020 — for the presidential election.

Democrats have long held a strong edge with working-class voters of color who do not have college degrees, but recent polls have shown an erosion of such support for Biden. Over a quarter (27 percent) of the union’s members are Latino, 24 percent are Black, 9 percent identify as Asian American and Pacific islander, and 40 percent are White, the group said.

Leaders from SEIU, which endorsed Biden’s reelection bid last year, said they plan to aggressively highlight to voters the stark difference between Biden and former president Donald Trump on both rhetoric and policy.

“The reality is that so much is at stake for working people, and we will put our money where our mouths are,” said April Verrett, SEIU’s secretary-treasurer, who is running to be the union’s president when longtime leader Mary Kay Henry steps down in May.

“If you look at their records, if you look at what they stand for, it is really clear. You’ve got night and day candidates,” she added.

The union said it will focus on turning out infrequent voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia — all states where…

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