Sen. Kamala Harris is making a big play for union support in her run for President, focusing principally on education and childcare workers. Teachers’ unions have been financially hammered by the Supreme Court decision in Janus and are shopping for a vocal candidate they can get behind and support, ideally one who will not only push pro-labor policy but also use the bully pulpit to advocate for their members’ interests. With her proposal to massively bump teacher pay through federal funding, Harris could be it. As noted yesterday, in the first quarter of 2019, her presidential campaign took in at least 11,000 donations from educators. Now, it looks like she’s making a play for pro-union child care workers, too, backing a proposal to unionize them. This should further endear her to organized labor, which is a powerful ally in Democratic Party politics not just because of its organizing and door-knocking…
The numbers are in, and Sen. Kamala Harris raised an eye-popping $12 million in her first quarter as a presidential candidate. Harris’ campaign told the New York Times that “more than $6 million of her fund-raising — about half of her total — came from her digital program, including $1.1 million in the last week.” In addition, Harris took in “218,000 contributions in total and that 98 percent of her contributions were under $100. Her average donation was about $55.” A lot of the money may be coming from teachers. Harris has called for a massive, federally-funded pay rise for teachers. Her campaign says at least 11,000 donations came from “educators,” a term that may include school administrators and teachers not operating within the public school system or teaching K-12.