A teenager holds a pro-union sign at Laborfest. (Photo: Erik Gunn, States Newsroom.)
Trade unions exists to negotiate legally binding collective agreements that cover the wages, benefits and working conditions of represented employees. However, they also engage in politics because they believe that some elected officials are better than others when it comes to public policy.
Usually, but not always, trade unions support Democrats. However, several unions in Ohio have already done so he endorsed Republican senator John Husted.
Where do Ohio’s unionized workers and their families stand politically in 2025, especially in terms of party identification, ideology, support for President Trump, and candidate preferences in the 2026 elections? To answer these questions, let’s look at fresh data from a survey conducted at Bowling Green State University.
The BGSU Network for Democracy and Public Policy conducted an online survey survey of 800 registrants in Ohio voters from October 2 to 14. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points, and while some public presentations weight the data in a way that results in Trump having a +10 advantage over the 2024 presidential race, most of the analysis below is based on unweighted results.
Respondents had three options to indicate whether they lived in a union household: they were members of a union themselves, someone they lived with was a union member, or they and the person they lived with were union members. Seven percent say they belong to a union, 5% say someone they live with is a union member, and 2% say they and the person they live with are union members.
When it comes to political party preferences, trade unionists are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans. About 44% of union members are Democrats and only 24% are Republicans. Interestingly, of those living with someone who belongs to a union, 49% are Democrats and only 21% are Republicans.
In terms of ideology, trade unionists are more likely to describe themselves as liberals than conservatives. For example, 47% of union members consider themselves liberals, while only 24% consider themselves conservatives. A similar pattern occurs for people living with a trade union member.
The overwhelming majority of members in all categories of union households have a very unfavorable view of President Donald Trump. For example, 64% of union members have a strongly unfavorable attitude towards the president. The overwhelming majority also strongly condemns the job he is doing as president. For example, 70% of people living with a union member strongly disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president.
As for Ohio’s 2026 governor’s race, in a hypothetical matchup between Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, members of all three categories of union households support Acton by a margin of more than two to one. Democrat Tim Ryan might do just as well in a hypothetical matchup with Ramaswamy. Members of union households also overwhelmingly support former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in his campaign against Republican Sen. John Husted.
We employ weighted data in the analysis below because we want to see what a sample of likely Ohio voters think about unions. We asked respondents what impact they thought the decline in the number of workers represented by trade unions had. Sixty percent thought it was quite or very bad for working people. Only 40% thought it was at least somewhat good for working people.
What does all this tell us?
First, if Democrats ever want to compete in statewide elections again in Ohio, they will benefit from and need more unionized households to vote.
Second, Democratic candidates could tailor their messaging to inspire union members and their families to vote. This may mean focusing on the so-called “bread and butter” or “kitchen table” economic issues that drive workers to unionize in the first place. An overwhelming majority of all categories of trade union household members believe that the economic situation in the country has worsened over the past year, as do around 54% of non-trade union household members. Can Democrats convince these voters that their plans will improve the economy? This may prove to be a decisive factor in the union’s victory in 2026 and winning the votes of all employees.
Finally, even in a sample in which voters remember giving President Trump a ten-point lead, voters believe that degenerating union membership is bad for workers. This may give union organizers a better chance than in recent years to strengthen their ranks by convincing more workers that life is better in unions.
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