NEW: Largest Healthcare Workers Union Endorses Deb Haaland for Governor, Citing Bold Leadership on Health Care and Workers’ Rights

SEIU backs Haaland as the clear choice to protect healthcare, defend workers, and take on Trump’s dangerous agenda

Albuquerque, N.M. – Today, the Committee of Interns and Residents, of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the leading healthcare labor organization in New Mexico representing hundreds of frontline health care and essential service workers across New Mexico and thousands more across the nation, officially endorsed Deb Haaland for Governor. Haaland earned the endorsement of the major healthcare union because she has laid out a clear and urgent plan to increase health care access, stand up for working families, and lead with courage in the face of mounting threats from Trump and his Republican allies.

“Deb Haaland has shown time and again that she will take on the tough fights to get New Mexicans the healthcare they need and protect and grow the healthcare workforce that makes that care possible,” said Dr. Danielle Rivera, a member of the the Committee of Interns and Residents, an SEIU local that represents over 90 percent of resident physicians in the state. “She leads with clarity and courage, and she understands that healthcare is not a privilege, it’s a lifeline. At a time when we are seeing ongoing assaults on working people, this is about our rights—our right to healthcare, to live with dignity, and to stand together against injustice. SEIU is proud to endorse her because we know she will fight for the workers and families who keep New Mexico healthy.”

With Trump’s Medicaid cuts threatening to shut down up to eight hospitals in New Mexico, Haaland has laid out a clear and urgent plan to protect care for every family. Her plan includes: investments to protect Medicaid coverage for over 800,000 New Mexicans, strategies to bring more doctors and nurses to the state, increasing mobile health clinics in rural areas, and adding more healthcare navigators to help New Mexicans cut through red tape.

“SEIU members go to work every day with one mission: to get New Mexicans the healthcare they need, and I could not be more honored to have their support,” said Deb Haaland. “I won’t stand by and let Trump take healthcare away from New Mexicans. I’m running for governor to protect New Mexico’s health and partner with our health care workforce to deliver common sense solutions for our families.”

Over the past several weeks, Haaland has traveled across the state to meet directly with health care providers, patients, and hospital staff, listening to their concerns and confronting New Mexico’s toughest challenges head-on. At a recent press conference, Haaland outlined her plan to defend rural hospitals and health centers facing devastating cuts, and to protect healthcare coverage for more than 88,000 New Mexicans as Trump’s “Big Bad Bill” could cut over $9.2 billion in health care spending in New Mexico, putting rural health care in danger, all while handing out tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.

SEIU’s endorsement adds to the growing momentum behind Haaland’s campaign as she continues to build a coalition focused on challenging the status quo and delivering results for working people across the state.