Although California has one of the highest numbers of registered Democrats in the country and the number of California Republicans is in decline, the state’s unions and public employees are beginning to open up their pocketbooks and making donations to the Republican Party.
Why? According to an article in the Washington Times,“California’s Democrats have nearly obliterated the Republicans on their triumphant march to a welfare state. This is dangerous for the unions, whose support of Democrats is unnecessary if Democrats face no organized opposition. They are therefore uniting to prop up the GOP and keep the war going. Giving money to the GOP helps prevent a Democratic political monopoly, holding the Republicans up as a threat to Democratic power that will never actually materialize.”
Americans who associate with the Republican Party have historically believed in a philosophy that each person is responsible for taking care of themselves, and that the government should
provide minimal assistance to help individuals who are otherwise unable to care for themselves.
Unions, not only in California but across the United States, have historically donated to the Democratic Party because it has been more receptive to labor issues than Republicans. Typically, unions have found support from Democrats and certain safeguards they have promoted to protect workers from being exploited. But the GOP’s stance on labor issues has slowly started to shift as the state’s Republican Party rejuvenates its platform to attract more members.
Yvonne Walker is the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000 Union, which has about 93,000 members, making it California’s largest public-employees union. She said that since the union has as many as 30 percent of its members who are registered Republicans, the group should be financially supporting Republicans as well as Democrats.
So far, the SEIU has donated about $15,000 to the California Republican Party.
«Too often, we’ve been seen as another arm of the Democratic Party,” she said. «We’re not the arm of either party … and we’re not representing a Republican agenda or a Democratic agenda. We represent working people, and we’re willing to work with anyone who shares those values.»
“Since 2005, labor unions have reported spending $4.4 billion on political activity, with the vast majority of that money going to Democrats like Robert Menendez, despite the fact that half of SEIU members identify as Republicans or Independents,” the SEIU wrote in an email.
“Besides an obvious conflict of interest, the worst part about the financial arrangement between unions and elected officials is that much of the money going into campaign coffers comes from compulsory membership dues. In other words, union members are forced to pay for political candidates or activities they may not even support.”
The SEIU isn’t alone in its donations to Republicans. A California Teachers Association political action committee donated $10,000 to the party in September and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has donated at least $50,000 so far.
JeVaughn Baker is a spokesperson for the correctional officers employees union, which represents about 27,000 guards and other prison employees. He said the group’s donations were «business as usual» and that «truthfully, we’ve never stopped working with Republicans.»
However, Baker added that the “organization is becoming more open-minded toward diverging opinions and probably more willing to take part in policy discussions regarding corrections.»
According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, it has been about 10 years since some of these larger public employee unions have donated to the California Republican Party. But labor officials said that part of the reason they have decided to invest in the Republican Party is because of the party’s newly elected chairman, Jim Brulte.
Local media reports say that Brulte, the former state Senate Republican leader, is well connected to the donor class and as a result, has been able to raise more than $3 million this year. Before Brulte took over, the party was operating with a deficit.
But Bill Whalen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and adviser to former Gov. Pete Wilson (R), said Republicans shouldn’t expect a dramatic change in state politics, speculating that the donations are more symbolic than anything.
«One of the reasons why you see a union give a small amount to the GOP is to publicly say, ‘We’re not as one-sided as our opponents would have you believe,'» he said.
However, the California Public Policy Center’s Union Watch, a conservative advocacy group, views the situation differently and suggested to state Republicans that if they accept funding from unions, it could force “an internal struggle” that would make the labor movement “more accountable to their members.”
Though the unions have begun making donations to the Republican Party, they haven’t stopped making even larger donations to the California Democratic Party. While the California Teacher’s Association gave $10,000 to the state GOP, the group gave $180,000 to Democrats.
John Fleischman is the publisher of the conservative website FlashReport. He said that Brulte is “asking everyone he can for money,” and that “if you’re head of the [California Teachers Association] and its 40 percent Republican [members], for $15,000 you throw a bone to all your Republican members while giving millions to the Democrats. It’s a win-win.»