American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
| American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Type: | Labor union |
| Top official: | Lee Saunders, president |
| Year founded: | 1932 |
| Website: | Official website |
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is a labor union in the United States. As of July 2025, AFSCME's website says the organization has approximately 3,400 local unions and 58 councils and affiliates in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico."[1]
Background
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees was founded in 1932 as the Wisconsin State Employees Association. The organization changed its name in 1935 when other states joined the group.[2] As of July 2025, AFSCME's handbooks says the following about its mission:[3]
| “ | The mission of our union is spelled out in Article II of the International Constitution, and it includes:
|
” |
Leadership
As of July 2025, the following were listed as leadership on the group's website:[5]
- Lee Saunders president
- Elisssa McBride, secretary-treasurer
Work and activities
Member advocacy
According to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees website: "With members in hundreds of different occupations – from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers – AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services, and prosperity and opportunity for all working families."[6]
Political activity
As of February 2015, AFSCME was the third largest organizational contributor to political campaigns, having donated more than $90 million up to that point since 1990.[7]
2016 elections
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[8]
- See also: Endorsements for Hillary Clinton
2012 elections
According to OpenSecrets.org, AFSCME spent $64,764,312 in the 2012 election cycle.[9]
Endorsed candidates
In the 2012 election cycle, the AFSCME supported the following candidates:[10]
- Barack Obama
- Ron Barber
- Marc Veasey
- Janice Hahn
- Sherrod Brown
- Suzanne Bonamici
- Chris Donovan
- Pete Gallego
- Kathleen Hochul
- Mike McIntyre
- Christie Vilsack
- Tammy Baldwin
- Alfred Lawson, Jr.
- Patrick Murphy
- Emanuel Cleaver
- Jim Costa
- Elizabeth Warren
- Joe Courtney
- Frederica Wilson
- Cheri Bustos
- Joe Donnelly
- Heidi Heitkamp
- Chris Murphy
- Bill Nelson
- Ami Bera
- Kathryn Boockvar
- Mark Critz
- Martin Heinrich
- Tim Kaine
- Gary McDowell
- Sal Pace
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz
- Ann Kirkpatrick
- John Barrow
- Xavier Becerra
- Shelley Berkley
- Howard Berman
- Sanford Bishop
- Timothy Bishop
- Earl Blumenauer
Expenditures
| Top 5 largest American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees expenditures in 2012[11] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | State | Office | For | Against | Total | Desired Result |
| Barack Obama |  |
N/A | President | $22,927 | $0 | $22,927 |  |
| Ron Barber | |
AZ | House | $21,000 | $0 | $21,000 | |
| Marc Veasey | |
TX | House | $20,000 | $0 | $20,000 | |
| Janice Hahn | |
CA | House | $20,000 | $0 | $20,000 | |
| Sherrod Brown | |
OH | Senate | $17,920 | $0 | $17,920 | |
2010
Ballot measure activity
According to MapLight, AFSCME was the 11th largest donor to the ballot proposition campaigns for the November 2, 2010 ballot.[12]
| Ballot measure | Description | AFSCME position | AFSCME donation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proposition 14 | Elections | Opposed | $50,000 |
| Proposition 22 | Gov't finance | Supported | $3,000 |
| Proposition 23 | Environment | Opposed | $75,000 |
| Proposition 24 | Taxes | Supported | $100,000 |
| Proposition 25 | Gov't finance | Supported | $1,275,543 |
| Proposition 26 | Taxes | Opposed | $135,000 |
| Proposition 27 | Redistricting | Supported | $1,250,000 |
Noteable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' revenues and expenses from 2015 to 2023. The information comes from the Internal Revenue Service
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $168,251,797 | $140,489,972 |
| 2016 | $161,912,610 | $152,655,675 |
| 2017 | $177,704,517 | $130,184,399 |
| 2018 | $160,258,628 | $138,110,583 |
| 2019 | $179,478,956 | $125,315,338 |
| 2020 | $148,881,606 | $124,656,039 |
| 2021 | $164,892,964 | $118,006,651 |
| 2022 | $140,241,242 | $143,028,145 |
| 2023 | $164,987,73 | $138,127,083 |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- What is an influencer?
- PACs and Super PACS
- Political action committee
- Super PAC
- Federal Election Commission
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, "We Are AFSCME," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, "History," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, "Officers Handbook," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, "Leadership," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, "Jobs We Do," accessed July 31, 2025
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org,"Center for Responsive Politics totals," accessed February 25, 2015
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Hillary Clinton Wins AFSCME Endorsement," October 23, 2015
- ↑ Open Secrets, "AFSCME - summary," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Open Secrets, "AFSCME - recipients," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedacs - ↑ MapLight, "$147 Million Spent on California's Nov. Ballot Measures," November 5, 2010
