How do firefighters vote?

[TransfemmeGoreVidal]

I'm guessing they're sort of similar to Cops though probably not quite as monolithically R so maybe an Obama-Trump demographic. In New York I know that some firefighters were extremely critical of Giuliani for his handling of 9/11 and ran ads against him in the GOP primary in 2008 but I guess that doesn't speak to their party allegiance as a whole.

[Hope For A New Era]

Just going by "feeling" I'd say they're one of the most intensely Obama-Trump demographics.

[Red Wall]

Probably like midwestern wwc. Pre-Trump dems lost them but by smaller margens than other wwc groups. Now they have turned into a prime Obama-Trump demo and are safe R.

[Wormless Gourd]

To the left of LEOs but both far to the right of the cities they service.
Trump racked up police union endorsements but also only got Philly's firefighters union. The vote was 2-to-1 among members to confirm the endorsement.
Still I would assume like a lot of unions the rank and file don't follow the union's endorsement perfectly well. You can assume how a lot of them vote based on the neighborhoods they're concentrated in. Staten Island, NE Philly, Mount Greenwood give a pretty consistent hint firefighters vote pretty Republican, in varying intensities.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I've always viewed firefighters more on the lean-left side of things.

It goes to my narrow-minded thinking that firefighters are viewed as more sympathetic/empathetic, in that their MO is "Saving others". Whereas cops are viewed as more militaristic and their MO is "Protecting/defending others".

I'm also basing it on how the firefighter unions here usually endorse the left-wing candidates while the police unions endorse the right-wing candidates. Probably not the best indicator.

[DC Al Fine]

Just quickly running through the major voting demographics:

Sex: Male, R
Race:
Education: Non-college grad, R
Location: Tends urban, D
Income: Averages ~$45k, probably slightly above average household income if wife works, neither R, nor D)
Religion:

Just guessing off that, I'd guess they vote somewhat R.

[Suburbia]

They are the Giuliani-Trump-Pete King demographic.

FDNY in New York, Lean R

Some of them were at the Trump mob on January 6

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-fdny-members-spotted-outside-capitol-during-siege-20210109-67gamvnsvza3dc6mmtuehs3m3q-story.html

FDNY leans R, they don't like urban Black-Latino politicians like Dinkins, they don't like white Democrats like de Blasio who is sympathetic to minority issues like criminal justice, etc.

9/11 attacks made them more right wing.

Expect the 20th anniversary of 9/11 to be politicized by the Republicans in NY, etc.

Most of them are Italian or Irish blue collar males, whose fathers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts were on the force.

It's essentially nepotism and who knows who.

[Canis]

Firefighter unions often endorse Democrats over Republicans more than Police unions do. But of the firefighters, I know more republican firefighters than I do democrats which is totally anecdotal. No clue how they vote completely but I figure they probably vote republican overall but are more democratic than Police.

[Suburbia]

Firefighter unions often endorse Democrats over Republicans more than Police unions do. But of the firefighters, I know more republican firefighters than I do democrats which is totally anecdotal. No clue how they vote completely but I figure they probably vote republican overall but are more democratic than Police.

Firefighters in the Northeast tend to be part of the Northeast GOP coalition......especially NYC, where a lot of them donate to the Queens/SI GOP....blue collar city workers are Republican despite being in a government job, where Republicans are usually antigovernment.

Essentially Nicole Malliotakis' coalition.

https://books.google.com/books?id=NuQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=Italian+Irish+fire+department+Giuliani+1994&source=bl&ots=95-Em6OOfV&sig=ACfU3U3q-zfvUjPpypRGgeU52cjOgGhaRQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw-eDlkJDuAhXhp1kKHaCUALQ4ChDoATAHegQICRAC#v=onepage&q=Italian%20Irish%20fire%20department%20Giuliani%201994&f=false

[Sumner 1868]

Just going by "feeling" I'd say they're one of the most intensely Obama-Trump demographics.

We have a winner!

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/how-firefighters-help-explain-outcome-2016-election-n699196

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Just going by "feeling" I'd say they're one of the most intensely Obama-Trump demographics.

We have a winner!

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/how-firefighters-help-explain-outcome-2016-election-n699196

Interesting piece - great find and thanks for sharing.

Worth remembering that a lot of firefighters are unionized. When I was growing up I remember seeing a lot of "Firefighters endorse ..." signs for Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (more for their Gov races than Senate races, although I'd imagine that their tenures as gov won them a lot of residual and long-lasting good will from firefighters and police) and some other statewide and local Dems. The article posted is consistent with union supporting Democrats falling between 2012 and 2016.

Obviously this isn't the US so some details don't translate nicely but I'd bet this recent This American Life episode about reforming a Dutch firefighters squad would be pretty relevant to the pressures pulling firefighters to the right in the Trump era.

[Skill and Chance]

Just going by "feeling" I'd say they're one of the most intensely Obama-Trump demographics.

We have a winner!

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/how-firefighters-help-explain-outcome-2016-election-n699196

Interesting piece - great find and thanks for sharing.

Worth remembering that a lot of firefighters are unionized. When I was growing up I remember seeing a lot of "Firefighters endorse ..." signs for Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (more for their Gov races than Senate races, although I'd imagine that their tenures as gov won them a lot of residual and long-lasting good will from firefighters and police) and some other statewide and local Dems. The article posted is consistent with union supporting Democrats falling between 2012 and 2016.

Obviously this isn't the US so some details don't translate nicely but I'd bet this recent This American Life episode about reforming a Dutch firefighters squad would be pretty relevant to the pressures pulling firefighters to the right in the Trump era.

Firefighters are interesting.  Super ancient Dem tradition going back to the Tammany Hall machine politics of the 19th century, probably peaked in the FDR/LBJ years then flipped narrowly to Reagan and another significant R shift for Trump. 

[Chips]

Probably a slight lean to Republicans.

[mpbond]

Firefighter unions often endorse Democrats over Republicans more than Police unions do. But of the firefighters, I know more republican firefighters than I do democrats which is totally anecdotal. No clue how they vote completely but I figure they probably vote republican overall but are more democratic than Police.

Totally anecdotal as well, however in my WWC/post-industrial, but still Dem-leaning, city in CT the firefighters Union tends to endorse local Democrats, while the Police Union tends to endorse local Republicans. Because of this the local elections can turn into proxy wars between the two. I don't know (might be that dems are willing to increase the FD's budget but not the PD's?) why this happens though because the firefighters and police are demographically similar. However, I think this is just local politics at play because even if the firefighters vote democratic at the local level, I am certain both the police and firefighters voted heavily for Trump.