{"id":2608552,"date":"2026-05-30T10:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T14:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/major-union-poured-millions-into-dem-politics-casinos-as-workers-got-sold-out-report-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T10:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T14:13:55","slug":"major-union-poured-millions-into-dem-politics-casinos-as-workers-got-sold-out-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/major-union-poured-millions-into-dem-politics-casinos-as-workers-got-sold-out-report-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Union Poured Millions Into Dem Politics, Casinos as Workers Got Sold Out, Report Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmajor-union-poured-millions-into-dem-politics-casinos-as-workers-got-sold-out-report-finds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2608552&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A report alleges that teh SMART-TD transportation labor union spent millions on political and entertainment-related activities that aligned primarily with Democratic and left-wing groups, funded in part by member dues. According to the American Accountability Foundation, SMART spent over $35 million on political advocacy from 2017 to 2024, with none going to Republican-aligned groups and large amounts directed to Democratic Party organizations and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-can-cut-funding-to-universities-violating-civil-rights-law\/\" title=\"Trump Can Cut Funding To Universities Violating Civil Rights Law\">left-leaning efforts<\/a>. The report also says SMART used ample funds on leisure and recreation, including casinos, resorts, travel, and related expenses.It further claims the union\u2019s leadership is out of step with its members, citing the union\u2019s Democratic endorsements and detailing past legal allegations against a senior official.the article notes that SMART-TD did not respond to requests for comment, and that the figures were drawn from federal financial filings and Federal Election Commission records.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A major transportation union invested millions into Democratic-aligned political activity while also pouring member funds into leisure and recreational events, according to a report first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>The American Accountability Foundation report alleges SMART-TD poured money into Democratic candidates and liberal groups while spending heavily on entertainment, travel, casinos and resorts. The report also argues the spending shows unionleadership is out of step with the purportedly \u201cMAGA\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nbc-poll-shows-gop-becoming-party-of-blue-collar-workers\/\" title=\"NBC Poll Shows GOP Becoming Party Of Blue-Collar ...\">blue-collar workers<\/a> it represents.<\/p>\n<p>SMART-TD represents nearly 230,000 rail, bus and transit workers and is part of the Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.<\/p>\n<p>The report noted that SMART spent more than $35 million on political advocacy from 2017 to 2024. It found that that no spending went to Republican-aligned groups, while over a million dollars went to Democratic Party organizations and even more went to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/left-wing-media-watchdog-defends-jennifer-granholms-wealth-after-helping-her-become-a-millionaire\/\" title=\"Left-Wing Media Watchdog Defends Jennifer Granholm\u2019s Wealth After Helping Her Become a Millionaire\">left-wing interest groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>AAF President Tom Jones told the Daily Caller News Foundation the spending shows union leaders are out of step with the workers they represent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the SMART union claims to champion blue-collar Americans, its <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >leaders stay busy blowing millions<\/a> on left-wing causes, despite the overwhelming majority of their members voting Republican,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIn the last few years alone, SMART has funneled over $35 million to woke groups and even defended an alleged MS-13 gang member on CNN. How long will it take before union leadership learns American workers are sick of being sold out?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>IA-SMART\u2019s political committee sent the overwhelming majority of its federal political money to Democrats, according to the report. The PAC gave more than $2.3 million to Democratic party committees compared to $72,500 to Republican committees, and nearly $1.9 million to Democratic federal candidates compared to $194,500 to Republican federal candidates.<\/p>\n<p>The report claims the union is moving away from many of its blue-collar workers, whom it maintains have \u201cbroad support for the Trump-Vance agenda,\u201d through its endorsements of Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>The report also notes substantial political spending of $136 million, as well as spending on legal expenses, hotels, conferences, merchandise, entertainment, travel and food. It also highlights that the union spent $10 million on casinos and resorts, with an additional $1 million on theme parks.<\/p>\n<p>AAF\u2019s report also highlights the 30-year-old hate crime charges against SMART senior vice chairman Zachary Nagy, saying he had served prison time for burning a cross outside a black family\u2019s home in 1996. The report\u2019s section on Nagy comes after it describes multiple members of its leadership as staunch Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>LM-2 spending \u2014\u00a0the annual financial report unions file with the federal government \u2014\u00a0was sourced from the Office of Labor-Management Standards, and PAC spending and independent expenditures were obtained from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).<\/p>\n<p>SMART-TD did not immediately respond to the DCNF\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. 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( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Report: SMART-TD spent millions on Democratic politics and entertainment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2608553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_8772.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[33926,38629,36154],"class_list":["post-2608552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-campaign-finance","tag-labor-unions","tag-political-corruption"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_8772.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608552"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608556,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608552\/revisions\/2608556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}