A California labor union helped oust a Democrat from the state Capitol. His successor wants to curb the power of unions.

The University of California union has been successful in its fight to oust an Orange County Democrat from the state Senate after she did not support a bill she sponsored in the Legislature. But in doing so, the union may have helped elect a Republican with a history of opposing organized labor.

Democratic Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton lost re-election after the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 spent more than $1 million endorsing his candidates in the primary and later on ads bashing him and tying him to high gas prices and crime .

Although the union, which represents service workers on all UC campuses, did not endorse Republican Steven Choi of Irvine, its decision to oppose the more labor-minded Democrat may have helped close the race to a close contest.

It was a strategy that showed how much power labor unions can wield in California politics. In a Legislature where Democrats hold more than enough seats to form an executive, keeping a member of the party was less important to the union than making a point about the consequences of cross-staffing.

“This is an unprecedented situation where a labor union spent over a million of its members’ money to bring down a Democratic Party with a strong labor record to benefit a Republican who has been anti-labor throughout his legislative career,” Newman said. said. “It’s really amazing.”

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The California Federation of Labor gave Choi 6% of its annual legislative bill through 2022 when he served in the state Assembly, where he voted against bills supporting fast-food workers, allowing striking workers to keep health benefits and protecting unionized farmworkers. . That same year, Newman scored 87%, voting in favor of many union-backed bills.

Representatives for AFSCME Local 3299 did not respond to requests for comment.

Newman conceded last month after losing to Choi by less than 2 percentage points, or about 6,000 votes. The Democrat said the union’s 35,000 members should be “furious” at its leadership for helping Choi — who has been unfriendly in the past — win a seat in the Legislature.

He believes the union’s campaign against him was fueled by his reluctance to support a bill last year that would have put a measure on the ballot to ask voters to strengthen basic labor standards for all UC employees. The bill was sponsored by AFSCME Local 3299 and was derailed before reaching the governor’s desk, facing a long list of opponents who said it was unnecessary and unfairly singled out one group of government workers.

Choi, an 80-year-old immigrant from South Korea who once served as mayor of Irvine, is reluctant to give the union credit for his win. Like Newman, he said he would not support the bill, which drew the ire of the union.

A vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, Choi said his four-year plans are to “gain equal power” in the Democratic-dominated Legislature.

He opposed a union-backed measure in last month’s election that would have raised wages to $18 an hour and said he was concerned about how large unions like the California Teachers Assn. they use their power – often donating millions to support Democratic candidates and win some of the toughest labor laws in the country.

In an interesting twist, Choi is considering a proposed law that would prevent unions from financially supporting and endorsing their candidates in elections, saying they “catch” politicians who don’t vote their way.

“It’s not fair, how powerful they are,” he said. “It’s a really unhealthy habit.”

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Unions spent big on the 2024 election, with the Service Employees International Union and the California Teachers Assn. spending more than $1 million in private expenses alone to support Democrat Michelle Chambers in the hotly contested race for Senate District 35. Unions spent nearly $2 million on ads against her Democratic opponent Laura Richardson, who narrowly won the South Los Angeles race .

Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Labor Federation, would not comment on the specifics of the Senate District 37 race between Newman and Choi but said in an email Friday that “anytime and anywhere working people hold elected officials accountable for promises made by those officials to voters, it seems to scare people.” .”

Choi is unlikely to have much of an impact at the California Capitol, where Republicans are struggling to get any major policies signed into law.

He thinks the union that targeted Newman knew that and chose to risk helping elect a candidate they disagreed with in order to send a message to other Democrats about what happens when you oppose them.

“I think this was a power play to show how strong they are,” said Choi. “And what kind of punishment can they inflict on uncooperative lawyers.”

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This story first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.