Last week, the Ohio Conference of Teamsters endorsed Sherrod Brown for the U.S. Senate in 2026. Not a surprise for anyone who has been paying attention to how union leadership actually operates. But for Republicans wondering if the organization represents something new in American labor politics, this endorsement of Brown says more than two years of press releases ever did.

Brown is a Democrat running in a state that President Donald Trump has won three times. With this endorsement, the Ohio Conference of Teamsters did not weigh which candidate could best deliver for their members in a closely divided Senate. They chose the Democrat. That choice should be considered against the image the broader Teamsters organization has carefully cultivated to appeal to Republicans.