Teamsters leader turned MAGA-world darling backs Republican in key Senate showdown

FIRST ON FOX: One of the top union leaders in the country has waded into a key Senate contest, backing the Republican incumbent in a race that could determine the balance of power in the upper chamber.

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is backing Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in his bid for reelection as Republicans look to solidify their grip in the upper chamber, and push back against the headwinds that browbeat the party in power during a midterm election cycle.

“Sen. Marshall has proven time and time again that he is a friend of labor,” O’Brien said in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital. “As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sen. Marshall has been eager to partner with us on legislation that protects workers, even when it requires breaking rank with his own party.”

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“We look forward to continuing to work together with Sen. Marshall to fight for the rights of hardworking Americans,” he continued.

O’Brien’s green light to Marshall comes as Teamsters Local 696, the Topeka, Kansas-based chapter of the Teamsters also threw its support behind the lawmaker, who is seeking a second term in the Senate.

“We are proud to endorse the candidate in this race who continues to be a voice for the middle-class workers of our great state, and that candidate is Sen. Marshall,” Local 696 President Mike Scribner said in a statement.

“Kansas Teamsters need someone in Washington who is willing to fight on their behalf,” he continued. “Throughout his tenure, Sen. Marshall has shown that he is the person for the job.”

O’Brien has morphed into a notable figure in the GOP after his appearance as one of the opening speakers at the Republican National Convention in 2024.

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He also formed a political alliance and friendship with one of President Donald Trump’s top allies, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and even backed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to the job after nearly coming to blows with the Trump official two years prior.

It’s Marshall’s backing of pro-labor bills, like Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act, and Sen. Ed Markey’s, D-Mass., Warehouse Worker Protection Act and his own Railway Safety Act that scored him the backing of the Teamsters. He also led the Overtime Wages Relief Act, which eliminated federal income tax on up to $10,000 of overtime wages for individuals and $20,000 for married filers as part of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.”

Marshall is running against Kansas Senate Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton, the lead pastor of the state’s largest Methodist megachurch. Kansas is a ruby-red stronghold, meaning national Republicans aren’t rushing to aid the incumbent in warding off Hamilton.

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Still, Hamilton has already proven a deft fundraiser, nearly matching Marshall’s war chest in a fraction of the time.

Hamilton has so far raised just north of $4.1 million, while Marshall has brought in just over $6.2 million in a race that Cook Political Report has rated as “likely Republican.”

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But Hamilton will have to battle both a strong incumbent and history to have a chance at the seat. That’s because Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century. The last time was in the 1930s, when Kansans elected former Sen. George McGill. He only served one term before being ousted by a Republican.