Sean O'Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said Sunday that he had cast his first ballot as a Florida voter for Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, lending his name to the incumbent two days before she faces Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon. The announcement amounted to what the Washington Examiner called an implicit endorsement.
O'Brien made his choice public in a post on X. Moody, he wrote, "has been extremely helpful working with the Teamsters to protect workers' pensions, defend good-paying jobs, and support well-funded union apprenticeship programs." He said the union looked forward to working with her on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee "to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act and get this critical legislation signed into law to protect American workers," according to The Floridian, which reproduced the post in full.
The Teamsters have about 1.3 million members, and O'Brien's vote cut against the national labor movement's long tilt toward Democrats, Fox News reported in a story the New York Post also published. Moody's committee seat gives her a voice on labor standards, employment and retirement security, and Florida's Voice described the bill O'Brien named as bipartisan labor legislation. It is not the first time he has backed a Republican over the measure: he previously endorsed Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, citing similar work on the bill.
Moody welcomed the support the same day. "I'm proud to have the support of the Teamsters General President," she wrote, adding that she would "always fight to protect hardworking Americans, strengthen good-paying jobs, and ensure resources are available to train our next generation."
Nixon answered with a photo of herself alongside O'Brien. "Ashley Moody NEVER walked the line with you," she wrote, before offering a "shout out to all the rank & file Teamsters that are voting for me." Other critics were blunter. Some called him a scab, and a top commenter on his post mocked him for voting for what the commenter called "a famously anti-union candidate," according to the Fox report.
The vote also sets O'Brien apart from some of the union's own locals in Florida. Several of them, including Locals 769, 385 and 79, have mostly backed Democrats for state and federal office, though they have not advocated for Nixon, The Floridian reported.
O'Brien, a fourth-generation Teamster from the Boston area, became general president in 2022 and has crossed party lines before. He has called himself a lifelong Democrat, yet he spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, saying at the time that the Democratic Party had snubbed his request to address its own gathering. The Teamsters did not endorse a presidential candidate that year. He has also backed Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, according to The Floridian.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Moody in January 2025 to the seat Marco Rubio gave up to become secretary of state, and Tuesday's election will decide who serves the rest of the term, which runs through January 2029. Moody, a former Florida attorney general and Hillsborough County circuit judge, has led in the polls, and the Cook Political Report rates the race Solid Republican, Florida's Voice reported. The Examiner noted that Florida has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in 14 years, while adding that Nixon and other Democrats in the state have been broadly competitive.
Early voting was already underway when O'Brien posted his vote. Election Day in Florida is Tuesday.