Culinary removes 17 sitting Democratic senators from Nevada.

Long regarded as two of the most influential political organizations in Nevada, the Culinary Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 announced that they would no longer be supporting nearly twenty incumbent candidates for the Nevada Legislature. This decision was made because the lawmakers opposed a bill that would have mandated daily cleaning of hotel rooms.

The union withdrew its endorsement of seventeen Democratic candidates for state legislators last week, claiming that they had “joined Republicans and voted to repeal daily room cleaning” during the 2023 legislative session. The group claimed that Senate Bill 441 “hurt guest room attendants and our jobs.”

Additionally, they enlisted the aid of Nevada Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, who is a candidate for Clark County Commissioner. On Saturday, the June primary’s early voting will start.

The daily room cleaning requirement that was enacted during the 2020 Nevada Legislature, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was abolished by Senate Bill 441.

The repeal was passed as the union was engaged in talks over new five-year contracts with Strip resorts, with the support of nine Democrats in the Assembly and three in the Senate.

Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, told the Sun last week that the law was the result of negotiating power lost during discussions that might have been used to improve salaries and benefits for union members.

“It makes a very hard job even harder because the rooms are much harder to clean because they sit there and get dirty day after day after day,” Pappageorge stated.

In Las Vegas and Reno, the unions represent sixty thousand workers. Because of how crucial their support is, presidential contenders frequently hold rallies at union headquarters, utilizing the unions’ political apparatus to reach out to Democratic voters.

In Nevada, the state that has been won by the Democratic presidential nominee in each of the last four presidential elections, Culinary has had a significant influence. Furthermore, both of Nevada’s U.S. senators and all of Las Vegas’ federal representatives in Congress are Democrats; union members contributed significantly to the campaign preparation of both candidates.

“Our members will be out in force; we’re going to be turning up votes, knocking on doors, and registering people to vote,” Pappageorge declared.

Significant candidates they are abandoning include Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager of Las Vegas, Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno of North Las Vegas, and state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro of Las Vegas. The chair of the Nevada Democratic Party is Monroe-Moreno.

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro addresses the media during a press conference held at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building.

Yeager claimed that his performance in the Legislature demonstrates his commitment to the state’s labor and union activities.

Yeager stated, “Legislative Democrats have passed monumental pro-labor legislation since I was first elected in 2016.” “I will continue to speak up for working families and make the greatest choices for the state of Nevada as long as I serve as speaker of the Assembly. It’s rather simple. Any other kind of intricate tale is just filler.

Democrats hold Cannizzaro in such high regard that this spring, she attended a rally alongside first lady Jill Biden. This week, Monroe-Moreno made an appearance at a fundraiser for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign alongside U.S. Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J.

The union has not endorsed any of the primary opponents of any of the four unendorsed candidates. In its declaration, the union also stated that before the November election, it will reassess the candidates it supported, including those running for legislative office. Democrats would need to maintain their majority in the state Assembly and Senate in order to counterbalance Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican.

Regarding the most recent endorsements, Pappageorge remarked, “In politics, nothing is set in stone. This is the primary election, and we always put out endorsement guides before the primary and before general, and for right now, these are the recommendations based on the election on June 11.” There have been previous instances where the union withdrew its support.

Suzan Baucum, a Las Vegas justice of the peace, withdrew her support from Culinary in 2022 when she was spotted in a campaign photo endorsing Lombardo’s bid for governor. The union switched its support to Rebecca Saxe, who prevailed by a slim margin (51%–49%) to win the six-year term.

Even though the action might be interpreted as symbolic given that several candidates ran unopposed, the union didn’t think twice before withdrawing its support.

This is because, according to Pappageorge, SB 441’s repeal of the daily cleaning mandate has eliminated industrial employment, which the union is committed to defending. Only resorts with union affiliations are covered under the union’s contracts. The enactment of the law has eliminated jobs for other properties, he claimed.

According to Pappageorge, “it adds up to about a 30% reduction in workers, which we describe as a 30% pay cut overall for room cleaners.” “These lawmakers’ hair would be on fire if they faced a 30% pay cut.”