Nation's largest teachers' union backs Kamala Harris for President at Houston convention

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The nation's largest teachers' union endorsed Kamala Harris for President during its national convention in Houston.

The American Federation of Teachers 3500 delegates voted overwhelmingly to back Vice President Harris after their previous choice, President Joe Biden, bowed out the race.

"The American people have a great choice in Kamala Harris for President," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in an interview with ABC13. "We need to stand together on behalf of democracy, human rights, and economic rights for working people."

Even though public education and health are the primary issues at this week's national convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center, politics is still front and center.

Colin Allred, a Democratic North Texas congressman running for senate against Ted Cruz, did not mention Biden or Harris, despite endorsing her in a written statement this weekend. He did, however, talk about Cruz.

"When I was in the NFL, we had a word for guys like Ted," Allred said. "We called them 'me guys'. 'Me guys' are always looking out for themselves first."

At the same time as the convention, Cruz held a press conference in Houston in which he did talk about Biden and Harris and connected their approach to policy to Allred.

"One hundred percent of the Joe Biden record is Kamala Harris'," he said. "Colin Allred, (during) his first four years in Congress, voted 100% with Nancy Pelosi. "

The race between Cruz and Allred is not at the top of the ticket or top of mind given this past weekend's developments, but it is among the high-profile races impacted by Biden's dropping out.

Texas is important politically, which is why the nation's largest teachers' union chose Houston for its convention and Monday's endorsement. Houston Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia was among the first to bring up the stunning development in her early morning address.

"Has this whole weekend been a civics class?" she asked the crowd. "We're lucky because his partner through it all has been Kamala Harris and she will be the next president of the United States of America. She will be the first woman president."

Despite attacks from Republicans on Harris' policy and experience, she is not the official Democratic nominee.

Governor Greg Abbott joined Cruz and other GOP leaders who say the immigration issues at the southern U.S. border are her fault as much as Biden's.

"She has utterly failed as it concerns the border," Governor Abbott said. "The United States has never suffered as much as we are now because of these open border policies."

Harris was never a border czar, even though that has been the GOP mantra through 2021.

Harris was tasked with leading the administration's efforts on migration from Central America. Should she become the nominee, expect the border to remain an issue in the next three and a half months leading up to Election Day.

Abbott has been particularly critical of the Biden administration's handling of the border crisis, which saw a sharp increase in migrants seeking asylum and crossing into the United States illegally. However, border crossings in the Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador have decreased each year since 2021, according to the administration.

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