Teachers Union Head Brings Political Clout to Bear for Hillary Clinton
National Education Association chief Lily Eskelsen García takes campaign to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump personally
Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association, talks to volunteers at Hillary Clinton's campaign office in West Chester, Pa., a key Philadelphia suburb, on Oct. 15, 2016. PHOTO: BRODY MULLINS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
PHILADELPHIA—Lily Eskelsen García, the president of the National Education Association, is using her union’s vast campaign machine to wage a personal fight against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
As a Hispanic married to a Mexican citizen, she was insulted by his derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants. As the daughter of a U.S. Army veteran, she was upset by Mr. Trump’s criticism of the parents of a Muslim veteran killed in Afghanistan. And, as a woman, she was offended by Mr. Trump’s comments about how his status as a celebrity allowed him to grope women.
“This has hit me in every place I live,” Ms. García, 61 years old, said in an interview.
Under Ms. García’s watch, the teachers union is waging its most extensive election effort ever. She pushed the union to endorse Democrat Hillary Clinton last fall, months before the primaries had started, and to start campaigning for her much earlier than the union has in prior elections.
The NEA has doubled the amount of money it is spending on a campaign to help Mrs. Clinton and other Democrats, making it the top-spending labor union in the 2016 elections, according to election-spending reports.
The NEA has donated more than $14 million to groups that support the Democratic ticket.
Ms. García helps direct a union-led super PAC, For Our Future, that has raised roughly $60 million for the presidential race and key Senate races. The NEA has pledged $5 million to the For Our Future PAC and an affiliate, and another $1 million to the super PAC backing Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, Priorities USA Action.
Her union can also deliver key voters. Among NEA’s three million members, roughly three-quarters are women, many of them with college degrees, who live in the swing suburban areas in presidential battleground states.
Based on the union’s internal analysis, its members support Mrs. Clinton over Mr. Trump by 36 percentage points.
Some unions have had to work harder this year to hold their members as Mr. Trump’s antiestablishment message and criticism of trade deals has resonated with many of their white voters who lack a college degree. The GOP nominee has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and the National ICE Council, which represents border-control workers.
The AFL-CIO has been working to remind members and their families about Mr. Trump’s antilabor stances, such as his support for so-called right-to-work laws that can drain Teachers Union Head Brings Political Clout to Bear for Hillary Clinton - WSJ:
