Working Class Party

Last updated
Working Class Party
AbbreviationWCP
Founded2014;10 years ago (2014)
Ideology Progressivism
Socialism
Political position Left-wing
US House of Representatives
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US Senate
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Michigan House of Representatives
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Michigan Senate
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Michigan statewide offices
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Website
workingclassfight.com

The Working Class Party (WCP) is a left-wing political party in the United States, based in Detroit, Michigan. WCP first gained ballot access in 2016. WCP supports progressive, pro-labor and socialist policies and candidates.

Contents

The party was created by Trotskyist newspaper The Spark and its supporters, [1] which continues to endorse the party. [2]

History

From 2011 to 2013, The Spark conducted a campaign to encourage the working class to organize independent of the Democratic Party.[ citation needed ] In 2014, five people active in that campaign ran for office as Independent candidates. [3] [4] Four candidates lost. David Roehrig won his campaign for Wayne County Community College Trustee, due to his only opponent (the Democratic incumbent) being disqualified before the election. [5]

Michigan has harsh ballot access laws. In 2016, several dozen WCP volunteers turned in more than 50,000 signatures, above the required 31,566, which enabled WCP candidates to appear as party candidates on Michigan ballots. [6] [7]

Ideology

The WCP argues that no working class party exists, because both the Democrats and the Republicans are controlled by the bosses. [8] In the WCP's party program, it supports a living wage tied to inflation and full employment through reductions in working time. [9] The WCP holds that the working class "won't change our situation with an election", but can "use this election to say there are [...] tens of thousands of people[ ]who agree with this program for the crisis". [9]

Election results

The WCP has fielded electoral candidates in the United States for local, state, and federal offices. WCP candidates usually run as official WCP candidates on their own ballot line.

No WCP candidate has yet won a contested election, however one WCP candidate won an uncontested election for the Wayne County Community College Board in 2014.

As of November 2022, the party has ballot access in Illinois, Maryland and Michigan. [10] As of December 2020, 2,102 voters were affiliated with the WCP in Maryland. [11]

Congressional elections

YearCandidateChamberStateDistrictVotes %ResultNotesRef
2024Ed Hershey House Illinois 4th [12]
2024 Simone R. Coleman House Michigan 13th [12]
2024 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th [12]
2024 Andrea L. Kirby House Michigan 10th [12]
2024 Jim Walkowicz House Michigan 9th [12]
2024 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 8th [12]
2024 Louis Palus House Michigan 3rd [12]
2024 Liz Hakola House Michigan 1st [12]
2024 Juan Rey House California 37th 8,910
10.3%
Advanced to general election Nonpartisan blanket primary [13]
2022 Simone R. Coleman House Michigan 13th 8,811
3.8%
Lost [14]
2022 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 8,046
2.9%
Lost [14]
2022 Andrea L. Kirby House Michigan 10th 5,905
1.8%
Lost [14]
2022 Jim Walkowicz House Michigan 9th 6,570
1.8%
Lost [14]
2022 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 8th 9,077
2.7%
Lost [14]
2022 Louis Palus House Michigan 3rd 4,192
1.3%
Lost [14]
2022 Liz Hakola House Michigan 1st 5,480
1.4%
Lost [14]
2022 Ed Hershey House Illinois 4th 4,503
3.4%
Lost [15] [16]
2020 Philip Kolody House Michigan 14th 2,534
0.7%
Lost [17]
2020 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 5,284
1.8%
Lost [17]
2020 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 11,147
2.9%
Lost [17]
2020 Andrea Kirby House Michigan 9th 8,970
2.2%
Lost [17]
2020 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 5th 8,180
2.3%
Lost [17]
2018 Philip Kolody House Michigan 14th 4,761
1.8%
Lost [18]
2018 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 22,186
11.3%
Lost [18]
2018 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 6,712
2.3%
Lost [18]
2018 Andrea Kirby House Michigan 9th 6,797
2.2%
Lost [18]
2018 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 5th 12,646
4.6%
Lost [18]
2018 Juan Rey House California 29th 944
1.4%
Lost Nonpartisan blanket primary [19] [20]
2016 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 8,835
3.4%
Lost [21]
2016 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 9,183
2.8%
Lost [21]
2014 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 5,039
2.4%
Lost [22]
2014 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 3,466
2.1%
Lost [22]

State elections

YearCandidateOfficeStateDistrictVotes %ResultNotesRef
2024Suzanne Roehrig Wayne State University Board of Governors Michigan At-Large [12]
2024Mary Ann Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large [12]
2024Linda Green Harris State House of Representatives Michigan 16th district [12]
2024Hashim Malik Bakari State House of Representatives Michigan 13th district [12]
2024Logan Ausherman State House of Representatives Michigan 8th district [12]
2024Linda Rayburn State House of Representatives Michigan 7th district [12]
2024Larry Darnell Betts State House of Representatives Michigan 3rd district [12]
2024Mark DaSacco State House of Representatives Michigan 2nd district [12]
2022Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large135,442
1.6%
Lost [14]
2022 Kimberly Givens State Senate Michigan 6th district 3,396
3.1%
Lost [14]
2022 Linda Rayburn State Senate Michigan 3rd district 10,214
14.3%
Lost [14]
2022 Larry Darnell Betts State Senate Michigan 2nd district 1,636
2.6%
Lost [14]
2022 David Harding Governor of Maryland Maryland At-Large17,154
0.86%
Lost [23]
2020 Louis Palus State House of Representatives Michigan 75th district 1,234
3.0%
Lost [17]
2020 Larry Darnell Betts State House of Representatives Michigan 15th district 970
2.4%
Lost [17]
2020 Simone R. Coleman State House of Representatives Michigan 14th district 1,937
4.7%
Lost [17]
2020 Kimberly Givens State House of Representatives Michigan 7th district 1,224
3.5%
Lost [17]
2020 Linda Rayburn State House of Representatives Michigan 4th district 1,023
3.3%
Lost [17]
2020 Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large147,345
1.4%
Lost [17]
2020 Hali McEachern State Board of Education Michigan At-Large82,700
0.8%
Lost [17]
2018 Louis Palus State Senate Michigan 29th district 1,445
1.2%
Lost [18]
2018 Thomas Repasky State Senate Michigan 18th district 2,954
2.3%
Lost [18]
2018 Larry Betts State Senate Michigan 5th district 3,944
4.4%
Lost [18]
2018 Hali McEachern State Senate Michigan 3rd district 2,095
2.9%
Lost [18]
2018Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large125,693
1.7%
Lost [18]
2018Logan Smith State Board of Education Michigan At-Large91,077
1.3%
Lost [18]
2016Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large224,392
2.66%
Lostenough votes for WCP to keep ballot access in 2018 elections [24] [25] [21]

Local elections

YearCandidateOfficeAreaDistrictVotes %ResultNotesRef
2020 David Harding Mayor Baltimore, MD At-Large3,973
1.7%
Lost [26]
2016David Harding Baltimore City Council Baltimore 14th district1,426
8.3%
Lost [27] [28]
2015 Ed Hershey City Council Chicago 25th ward614
8.2%
Lost [29]
2014Mary Anne Hering School Board Dearborn, MI At-Large5,153
9.93%
Lost3 seats to be filled [30]
2014Kenneth Jannot School Board Dearborn, MI At-Large2,431
4.69%
Lost3 seats to be filled [30]
2014David A. Roehrig Community College Board Wayne County, MI 2nd15,661
96.5%
Wonran unopposed [30]

Other candidates who shared many of the same ideas as the Working Class Party appeared as "non-partisan" (independent) candidates on the ballot in Chicago in 2015; in Baltimore in 2016 and 2020; and in Los Angeles in 2018. [31] [32] [33]

See also

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References

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