--- title: Hillary Clinton Wins Endorsement by American Federation of Teachers description: Hillary Clinton has secured the first major union endorsement of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. canonical: https://time.com/3954717/hillary-clinton-endorsement-american-federation-teachers/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-11T21:36:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:46.275Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Wins Key Endorsement From American Federation of Teachers og:description: It's the first major union endorsement of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary og:url: https://time.com/3954717/hillary-clinton-endorsement-american-federation-teachers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9e455a53058c4cd/69885a8b524fc070e2df3858/gettyimages-479833690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: GettyImages-479833690 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Wins Key Endorsement From American Federation of Teachers twitter:description: It's the first major union endorsement of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9e455a53058c4cd/69885a8b524fc070e2df3858/gettyimages-479833690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Wins Key Endorsement From American Federation of Teachers > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Hillary Clinton 2016 Campaign Launch Highlight [Watch (HLS stream): Hillary Clinton 2016 Campaign Launch Highlight](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oxkyGIWI.m3u8) (0:50)  _Published 2015-06-13. Hillary Clinton 2016 Campaign Launch Highlight_ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 11, 2015 9:36 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses supporters at an organizational rally on at the home of Nancy and Danny Emanuel on July 7, 2015 in Ottumwa, Iowa. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses supporters at an organizational rally on at the home of Nancy and Danny Emanuel on July 7, 2015 in Ottumwa, Iowa. David Greedy—2015 Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 11, 2015 9:36 PM UTC Hillary Clinton has secured the first major union endorsement of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. The American Federation of Teachers, a powerful, 1.6 million-strong national union, voted on Saturday to endorse the former secretary of state, calling Clinton a “champion” for “working families.” “Hillary Clinton, a product of public schools herself, believes in the promise of public education,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the AFT. “From early childhood learning through higher education, she sees how that promise can create real opportunity for kids, building a much-needed bridge to the middle class.” The endorsement from the AFT does not come as a surprise. Clinton speaks often on the campaign trail about early childhood education, particularly on the importance of speaking and singing to young children, and has called for universal pre-kindergarten. She’s also endorsed President Obama’s plan to make community colleges free, and introduced a proposal to prevent for-profit colleges from fleecing veterans. Weingarten is also a long time ally and friend of Clinton’s. Nonetheless, it’s an important first union endorsement for Clinton, who is still struggling to establish herself as the favored candidate of the Democratic base. The AFT’s endorsement is a major strategic advantage for Clinton, too. The AFT says it will make 1 million phone calls and knock on more than 500,000 doors in the run-up to the 2016 election. In many ways, Clinton’s competitor for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, can claim a more natural alliance with the unions considering his staunch union activism and socialist roots. The AFL-CIO, the biggest alliance of unions in the country with 16 million members, has not yet endorsed a candidate for president. Many members and local affiliates say they identify most with Sanders, but that may not sway the union either way. “I’m honored to have the support of AFT’s members and leaders, and proud to stand with them to unleash the potential of every American,” Clinton said in a statement after the endorsement. “Their voices and the voices of all workers are essential to this country.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3954717/hillary-clinton-endorsement-american-federation-teachers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3954717/hillary-clinton-endorsement-american-federation-teachers/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Wins Key Endorsement From American Federation of Teachers","datePublished":"2015-07-11T21:36:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:46.275Z","description":"It's the first major union endorsement of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary","url":"https://time.com/3954717/hillary-clinton-endorsement-american-federation-teachers/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Education"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9e455a53058c4cd/69885a8b524fc070e2df3858/gettyimages-479833690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9e455a53058c4cd/69885a8b524fc070e2df3858/gettyimages-479833690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-479833690","caption":"OTTUMWA, IA - JULY 07: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses supporters at an organizational rally on at the home of Nancy and Danny Emanuel on July 7, 2015 in Ottumwa, Iowa. 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