California Democrat Scott Peters is under heavy pressure from the AFL-CIO and other labor unions to vote against fast-track authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A report from Politico reveals that unions are threatening to spend millions against Peters, cut off all support, and use personal attacks against him in the general election.
The AFL-CIO was blunt in the call that went out to Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat who represents San Diego: Vote yes on fast-track authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, people familiar with the conversation recall, and they’d spend a million dollars to knock him out in next year’s primary. If he managed to win, they’d drop another million against him in the general election. … One [Democrat] was told that the money would be dumped in the month before Election Day 2016 – with the labor group involved promising that the content would not be trade-related, but personal attacks found effective in 2014 poll testing.
Peters recently brought U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the chief United States official on international trade to San Diego saying, “The more we encourage exporting of San Diego-made products and technology, the more jobs we can create for San Diegans. That’s why I worked to bring Ambassador Froman to San Diego to hear directly from our local businesses and workers.”
Though AFL-CIO spokesperson Amaya Smith said a spending threat like the one made against Peters doesn’t reflect the labor organization’s internal process for funding candidates, Peters and other House Democrats are clearly facing pressure tactics from the unions to keep them in line.