Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien has thrown his support behind Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in the incumbent’s re-election campaign, a contest that could help determine which party controls the Senate after the midterms. O’Brien’s endorsement, announced in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital, highlights Marshall’s work on labor legislation even when it meant breaking with his own party.
“Sen. Marshall has proven time and time again that he is a friend of labor,” O’Brien said. “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.” O’Brien added that the Teamsters look forward to continuing to work with Marshall “to fight for the rights of hardworking Americans.”
The endorsement extends beyond the national union. Teamsters Local 696, the Topeka-based chapter, also backed Marshall, who is seeking a second term. Local 696 President Mike Scribner said the union is “proud to endorse the candidate in this race who continues to be a voice for the middle-class workers of our great state.” He added that Kansas Teamsters need someone in Washington “willing to fight on their behalf,” and that Marshall has shown he is that person.
Marshall’s support for several pro-labor measures earned the union’s backing, including Sen. Josh Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act, Sen. Ed Markey’s Warehouse Worker Protection Act, and his own Railway Safety Act. He also led the Overtime Wages Relief Act, which would eliminate federal income tax on up to $10,000 of overtime wages for individuals and $20,000 for married filers, a provision included in President Donald Trump’s broader legislative package.
O’Brien has become a notable figure in Republican circles since speaking at the 2024 Republican National Convention. He has formed a political alliance with Hawley, one of Trump’s top allies in the Senate, and backed Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security after the two nearly came to blows two years earlier.
Marshall faces Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton, lead pastor of the state’s largest Methodist megachurch, in the general election. Kansas is a deeply Republican state, and national GOP groups have not rushed to aid Marshall, who is considered a safe bet for re-election. The Cook Political Report rates the race as “likely Republican.”
Hamilton has nonetheless proven a strong fundraiser, pulling in just over $4.1 million in a short period, nearly matching Marshall’s $6.2 million war chest. Still, Hamilton must overcome history: Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century. The last was George McGill, elected in the 1930s, who served a single term before being ousted by a Republican.