National Nurses United (NNU), the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, with nearly 225,000 members nationwide, today announced its enthusiastic endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

“Vice President Harris has played a fundamental role in the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, and she has a long history of supporting working people and backing legislation that is critical to patient health and safety,” said NNU President Nancy Hagans, RN. “Her strong track record of support for our union, and for nurses’ values of caring, compassion, and community stands in stark contrast to the right-wing threats and anti-worker agenda of Donald Trump. Nurses across the country are proud and excited to endorse Vice President Harris to be the next president of the United States because we know she is the right choice to protect our patients’ health and safety.”

NNU’s Executive Council, elected by national nurse membership, voted to endorse Harris on the heels of President Biden’s announcement that he would no longer be seeking reelection. According to nurses, reasons for the Harris endorsement include:

• Vice President Harris supports working people and families. In her tenure as vice president, Kamala Harris has provided the tie-breaking votes for critical legislation, including the American Rescue Plan, which provided stimulus checks to working people  across America and ensured a comprehensive pandemic response program. She also provided the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which included a landmark victory to reduce the prices of prescription drugs and critical provisions to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
• Vice President Harris stands up for union workers. Nurses say they are proud to back a candidate who played a critical role in the most pro-labor administration in modern history. She worked to save the pensions of more than 1 million union workers and retirees, has stood in solidarity with striking union workers, and chaired the   White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, which is aimed at helping workers join labor unions and bargain collectively. Vice President Harris has supported the NNU-backed Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a bill to protect workers' rights to organize unions and collectively bargain without fear of retaliation, and the NNU-backed VA Employee Fairness Act, which grants full collective bargaining rights to RNs and other clinicians in the Veterans Health Administration—helping to ensure our nation’s heroes receive the highest quality care.
• Vice President Harris is a powerful advocate in key health care fights, including the fight to defend and restore reproductive health rights. Nurses note that Vice President Harris has consistently defended the Affordable Care Act and Medicare from attacks, has supported efforts to reduce medical debt, and has championed the new staffing standards for nursing homes achieved by the Biden-Harris administration. She has also supported the important health and safety regulations issued by the Biden-Harris administration, including a landmark Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) temporary standard mandating optimal Covid protections for health care workers. Harris has toured nationwide in support of reproductive health care rights.
• Vice President Harris has a career-long track record of backing legislation to protect patients and nurses. In her time as a U.S. Senator, nurses emphasize Vice President Harris cosponsored NNU-backed health care legislation, including federal safe nurse-to-patient staffing limits, Medicare for All, and a bill to prevent workplace violence in health care settings. As attorney general of California, where NNU represents more than 100,000 RNs, Kamala Harris also stood up for nurses and patients, including backing RNs in their fight to protect the state board of registered nursing from efforts to eliminate it and holding hospital corporations accountable.

“As a women-dominated profession, with many nurses of color caring for patients across the country, we really couldn’t be more proud to endorse Harris for president and fight to make history in November,” said Hagans. “Nurses have her back because we know she has our back—and the backs of our patients.”

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses Organizing Committee, and New York State Nurses Association.