California Professional Firefighters Endorse Kamala Harris For President

Sacramento – California Professional Firefighters (CPF) announced today its endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election, praising the Vice President on her leadership on and deep understanding of the needs of firefighters and emergency responders responsible for protecting the public’s safety.

CPF President Brian K. Rice made the following statement on the endorsement:

“Kamala Harris has always been a tremendous supporter of California’s firefighters. From her time as a local elected official to a statewide leader as our Attorney General and U.S. Senator to service as our nation’s Vice President, Kamala Harris has lifted up our work and delivered the resources firefighters need to protect California’s people and their property. She’s walked the fire lines alongside us when the cameras weren’t around to get a greater understanding of the hard work and resources that are necessary to respond to the moments of life and death that firefighters face on duty.

“Whether it’s the neighborhoods of the cities we serve or the wildlands that encounter more and more devastating fire events, California’s firefighters face incredible challenges protecting the public’s health and safety, but also their own too. Our families, our behavioral health, and our livelihoods are impacted by the grueling work of the fire service. Kamala Harris has been an ardent fighter for more jobs, better jobs, and better lives for working Californians and Americans, standing with us for improved wages, hours, and workplace conditions.

“Our union must recognize the leaders who have stepped up to improve the workplace protections and well-being of firefighters at every opportunity we have, and Kamala Harris deserves our support on the merits of her leadership, period. This election is a battle for the heart and soul of working America. Our freedoms are on the line – the freedom to join with co-workers to collectively bargain for better lives and safer working conditions, the freedom to have control over the work we do, and the freedom to assert ourselves through a union when bosses try to strip us of that.

“We respect that all voters, including our own members, will take other issues into consideration when they vote. As compelling as those reasons may be for some of our members, it’s CPF’s responsibility to recommend what’s best for the bottom line of firefighters’ well-being and the public safety services we deliver. With that in mind, Kamala Harris has earned our strongest recommendation.

“Firefighters have so much at stake in the direction of our federal government going forward with this election. California’s firefighters and residents alike can’t afford a President who threatens to withhold federal firefighter aid because of political preferences. National state of emergency declarations should be about assisting the public whose lives and homes are endangered by wildfires, floods, and earthquakes, not partisan politics. CPF knows Kamala Harris understands the seriousness of that responsibility. Further, CPF stands in strong opposition to the dangerous provisions of Project 2025 that undercut our members’ workplace rights, threaten their livelihoods, and depreciate the value of their service to our community. We have no doubt that Kamala Harris opposes Project 2025 too.

“Kamala Harris represents firefighters’ best opportunity to elect a leader who is going to support the work they do and to prioritize their well-being and the well-being of their families. On behalf of the state council of unions representing career firefighters and emergency responders, CPF urges the election of Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States.”

###

California Professional Firefighters is the state council of the International Association of Fire Fighters, representing 35,000 career firefighters and emergency medical service personnel in 180 local affiliated unions.