Working Class Party

Last updated
Working Class Party
Chairman Larry Christenson
Founded2016;8 years ago (2016)
Headquarters Detroit, Michigan
Ideology Progressivism
Socialism
Political position Left-wing
International affiliation International League of People's Struggle
Colors 
Michigan House of Representatives
0 / 110
Michigan Senate
0 / 38
Statewide Executive Offices
0 / 4
U.S. House of Representatives
0 / 13
U.S. Senate
0 / 2
Website
workingclassfight.com

The Working Class Party (WCP) is a left-wing political party, based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. [1] [2] [3] [4] The Working Class Party competed in the 2016 Michigan election, presenting three candidates. The party filed twelve candidates in the 2020 election, five for the U.S. Congress, two for the Michigan State Board of Education, and five for the Michigan House of Representatives. [5] As of November 2022, the party has ballot access in Illinois, Maryland and Michigan. [6]

Contents

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. [7] [8] [9]

History

The party can be traced back to a campaign carried out by people around the Trotskyist newspaper The Spark between 2011 and 2013. [10] That campaign focused on the need for the working class to organize independently. Five of the people active in that campaign ran for office in 2014 (although they were on the ballot as non-party candidates). The candidates ran for Congress, for the Dearborn School Board and for the Wayne County Community College Trustee. The latter was elected due to his only opponent, the Democratic incumbent, being disqualified before the election. [11]

Despite the harsh ballot access laws in Michigan, the people active in the 2014 campaign managed to put a party on the ballot in 2016. With several dozen others joining the voluntary effort, they turned in more than the required 31,566 petition signatures. In the end they turned in more than 50,000. [12] [13] The Working Class Party fielded two candidates for Congress and one for the State Board of Education in Michigan.

The WCP candidate for the State Board of Education polled 2.7%, many more than the 22,133 votes needed for the Working Class Party to retain ballot status in the Michigan 2018 elections. [14] [3] [15]

Similar campaigns in other states included for alderman in Chicago in the 25th ward. Candidate Ed Hershey received 614 votes (8.23%). [16] In 2016, David Harding was on the ballot for Baltimore's City Council elections, running in the 14th district. He received 1,426 votes, (8.3%). [17] In 2018, Juan Rey ran as a candidate in California's 29th congressional district for the U.S. House of Representatives. He received 944 votes (1.45%). [18]

In the 2018 midterm elections, the Working Class Party ran eleven candidates in Michigan; five for the U.S. House, four for the Michigan state senate and two statewide candidates for the Michigan State Board of Education. Most candidates were fielded in districts in and around Detroit, but the party was also contesting districts in Grand Rapids, Flint and Saginaw. [19] The party won between 1.2% and 11.4% of the votes.

In the 2020 elections, the Working Class Party ran twelve candidates in Michigan; five candidates for the US House of Representatives, five candidates for the State House and two candidates for State Board of Education and David Harding for the mayor of Baltimore. [20] [21] The party gained between 0.6% and 4.8% of the votes in the seats contested.

As of December 2020, 2,102 voters were affiliated with the WCP in Maryland. [22] The party announced plans to run candidates for governor in 2022 and for president in 2024 in order to maintain ballot access in Maryland. [23]

Ideology

The party is actively endorsed by Spark . [24] The party supports broad positions such as putting an end to unemployment [25] and stopping the decline of pensions and social security. [26] They call for workers to look into the books of businesses. [27] They call for the unity of workers against the divide created by the bosses. [28] The party also supports the formation of a vanguard party for the working class, as they maintain that both the Republican, as well as the Democratic party, are controlled by big capital. [29]

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. One WCP candidate won an uncontested election.

Congressional elections

YearCandidateChamberStateDistrictVotes %ResultNotesRef
2014 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 3,466
2.1%
Lost [30]
2014 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 5,039
2.4%
Lost [30]
2016 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 9,183
2.8%
Lost [31]
2016 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 8,835
3.4%
Lost [31]
2018 Juan Rey House California 29th 944
1.4%
Lost Nonpartisan blanket primary [32]
2018 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 5th 12,646
4.6%
Lost [33]
2018 Andrea Kirby House Michigan 9th 6,797
2.2%
Lost [33]
2018 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 6,712
2.3%
Lost [33]
2018 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 22,186
11.3%
Lost [33]
2018 Philip Kolody House Michigan 14th 4,761
1.8%
Lost [33]
2020 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 5th 8,180
2.3%
Lost [34]
2020 Andrea Kirby House Michigan 9th 8,970
2.2%
Lost [34]
2020 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 11,147
2.9%
Lost [34]
2020 Sam Johnson House Michigan 13th 5,284
1.8%
Lost [34]
2020 Philip Kolody House Michigan 14th 2,534
0.7%
Lost [34]
2022 Ed Hershey House Illinois 4th 4,503
3.4%
Lost [35]
2022 Liz Hakola House Michigan 1st 5,480
1.4%
Lost [36]
2022 Louis Palus House Michigan 3rd 4,192
1.3%
Lost [36]
2022 Kathy Goodwin House Michigan 8th 9,077
2.7%
Lost [36]
2022 Jim Walkowicz House Michigan 9th 6,570
1.8%
Lost [36]
2022 Andrea L. Kirby House Michigan 10th 5,905
1.8%
Lost [36]
2022 Gary Walkowicz House Michigan 12th 8,046
2.9%
Lost [36]
2022 Simone R. Coleman House Michigan 13th 8,811
3.8%
Lost [36]
2024 Juan Rey House California 37th 8,910
10.3%
Advanced to general election Nonpartisan blanket primary [37]

State elections

YearCandidateOfficeStateDistrictVotes %ResultNotesRef
2016Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large224,392
2.66%
Lost [31]
2018Logan Smith State Board of Education Michigan At-Large91,077
1.3%
Lost [33]
2018Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan At-Large125,693
1.7%
Lost [33]
2018 Hali McEachern State Senate Michigan 3rd district 2,095
2.9%
Lost [33]
2018 Larry Betts State Senate Michigan 5th district 3,944
4.4%
Lost [33]
2018 Thomas Repasky State Senate Michigan 18th district 2,954
2.3%
Lost [33]
2018 Louis Palus State Senate Michigan 29th district 1,445
1.2%
Lost [33]
2020 Hali McEachern State Board of Education Michigan At-Large82,700
0.8%
Lost [34]
2020 Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan 147,345At-Large
1.4%
Lost [34]
2020 Linda Rayburn State House of Representatives Michigan 4th district 1,023
3.3%
Lost [34]
2020 Kimberly Givens State House of Representatives Michigan 7th district 1,224
3.5%
Lost [34]
2020 Simone R. Coleman State House of Representatives Michigan 14th district 1,937
4.7%
Lost [34]
2020 Larry Darnell Betts State House of Representatives Michigan 15th district 970
2.4%
Lost [34]
2020 Louis Palus State House of Representatives Michigan 75th district 1,234
3.0%
Lost [34]
2022 David Harding Governor of Maryland Maryland At-Large17,154
0.86%
Lost [38]
2022 Larry Darnell Betts State Senate Michigan 2nd district 1,636
2.6%
Lost [36]
2022 Linda Rayburn State Senate Michigan 3rd district 10,214
14.3%
Lost [36]
2022 Kimberly Givens State Senate Michigan 6th district 3,396
3.1%
Lost [36]
2022Mary Anne Hering State Board of Education Michigan 135,442At-Large
1.6%
Lost [36]

Local elections

YearCandidateOfficeAreaDistrictVotes %ResultNotesRef
2014Mary Anne Hering School Board Dearborn, MI At-Large5,153
9.93%
Lost3 seats to be filled [39]
2014Kenneth Jannot School Board Dearborn, MI At-Large2,431
4.69%
Lost3 seats to be filled [39]
2014David A. Roehrig Community College Board Wayne County, MI 2nd15,661
96.5%
Wonran unopposed [39]
2015 Ed Hershey City Council Chicago 25th ward614
8.2%
Lost [40]
2016David Harding Baltimore City Council Baltimore 14th district1,426
8.3%
Lost [41]
2020 David Harding Mayor Baltimore, MD At-Large3,973
1.7%
Lost [42]

See also

Related Research Articles

Vote counting is the process of counting votes in an election. It can be done manually or by machines. In the United States, the compilation of election returns and validation of the outcome that forms the basis of the official results is called canvassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Working Families Party</span> Political party in the United States

The Working Families Party (WFP) is a left-wing minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libertarian Party of Connecticut</span> State affiliate of the Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party of Connecticut is a statewide affiliate of the U.S. Libertarian Party. According to the bylaws posted on its web site, the Connecticut Libertarian Party has the basic aims of furthering individual freedom and opposing the initiation of force against individuals, among other things. It does this by engaging in political, educational, and social activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libertarian Party of Michigan</span> State affiliate of the Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party of Michigan is a Michigan state political party advocating a libertarian ideology and the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party of the United States. The party gained primary ballot access status in 2016 because of the vote total of presidential nominee Gary Johnson. The party lost their status since their 2018 gubernatorial nominee Bill Gelineau failed to reach that threshold in the general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

From January 3 to June 5, 2012, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2012 United States presidential election. President Barack Obama won the Democratic Party nomination by securing more than the required 2,383 delegates on April 3, 2012, after a series of primary elections and caucuses. He was formally nominated by the 2012 Democratic National Convention on September 5, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The politics of Michigan, a competitive state that leans Democratic in presidential elections, are divided. Michigan is considered part of the Democrats' "Blue Wall." Governors since the 1970s have alternated between the two parties, and statewide offices including attorney general, secretary of state, and senator have been held by members of both parties in varying proportions, though the state currently is represented by two Democratic U.S. Senators and Democrats hold every statewide office. The Democratic Party has a slim majority of two seats in the Senate of the Michigan Legislature, and the House is currently deadlocked at 54 seats for each party. The state's congressional delegation is commonly split, with one party or the other typically holding a narrow majority, and Democrats currently have a 7-6 majority.

The Spark is a Trotskyist group in the United States aligned internationally with the Lutte Ouvrière tendency.

This article contains lists of official and potential third party and independent candidates associated with the 2016 United States presidential election.

Winnie Brinks is an American politician who has served as a member of the Michigan Senate since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Brinks assumed office as Majority Leader of the Senate on January 1, 2023; she is the first woman to ever hold the office, and the first Democrat to do so since William Faust left office in 1984. Brinks previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, worked as an executive at a non-profit before seeking office. In the House, she served on the Workforce and Talent Development, Education, Health Policy, and Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committees. She also serves as chair of the Progressive Women's Caucus, a non-profit organization that addresses concerns about women's health, pay equity, economic security and gender violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party for Socialism and Liberation</span> Communist party in the United States

The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a communist party in the United States. PSL was established in 2004, when its members split from the Workers World Party. The group believes that a socialist revolution is necessary to overthrow capitalism and establish socialism. The organization works toward this end by organizing and participating in local protests, running candidates in elections, and political education favoring a revolutionary socialist vanguard party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Solidarity Party</span> American political party

The American Solidarity Party (ASP) is a Christian democratic political party in the United States. It was founded in 2011 and officially incorporated in 2016. The party has a Solidarity National Committee (SNC) and has numerous active state and local chapters. Brian Carroll was the party's nominee in the 2020 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Liberati</span> American politician from Michigan

Frank A. Liberati is a Democratic politician from Michigan who formerly represented the 13th District – which comprised the cities of Allen Park and Southgate, and part of Dearborn Heights – in the Michigan House of Representatives after being elected in November 2014.

Laura Cox is an American politician from Michigan. Cox is a former Republican member of Michigan House of Representatives, and the former Chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States Senate election in Michigan</span>

The 2020 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent Michigan. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Michael A. Maturen is an American political activist best known for his candidacy for president of the United States as the nominee of the American Solidarity Party in the 2016 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Green Party presidential primaries</span>

The Green Party of the United States held primaries in several states in 2008. Cynthia McKinney won most of the primaries and was formally nominated as the party's nominee during the 2008 Green National Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States House of Representatives elections</span> House elections for the 117th U.S. Congress

The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 2020, to elect representatives from all 435 congressional districts across each of the 50 U.S. states to the 117th United States Congress, as well as six non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia and the inhabited U.S. territories. Special House elections were also held on various dates throughout 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howie Hawkins 2020 presidential campaign</span> Political campaign

The 2020 presidential campaign of Howie Hawkins, both the co-founder of the Green Party of the United States and thrice its gubernatorial candidate in New York, was informally launched on April 3, 2019, when Hawkins announced the formation of an exploratory committee and formally announced his campaign on May 28, 2019, to seek the Green Party nomination for the presidency of the United States in the 2020 presidential election and later the Socialist Party USA. On May 5, 2020, Hawkins announced that former Socialist Party USA vice presidential candidate Angela Nicole Walker would be his running mate. Hawkins and Walker were nominated by the Green Party on July 11, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Michigan gubernatorial election</span> Re-election of Gretchen Whitmer as Governor of Michigan

The 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ran for re-election to a second term and faced former political commentator Tudor Dixon in the general election. Whitmer defeated Dixon by a margin of 10.6 percentage points, a wider margin than polls indicated as well as a wider margin than Whitmer's first victory four years prior. According to Ron Brownstein of CNN in 2023, Whitmer won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Dixon's defeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Michigan Proposal 2</span>

Michigan Proposal 18-2 was a ballot initiative approved by voters in Michigan as part of the 2018 United States elections. The proposal was created in preparation of the 2020 United States Census, to move control of redistricting from the state legislature to an independent commission. The commission consists of thirteen members selected randomly by the secretary of state: four affiliated with Democrats, four affiliated with Republicans, and five independents. Any Michigan voter can apply to be a commissioner, as long as they have not been, in the last six years, a politician or lobbyist. Proponents argued that Michigan's current districts are gerrymandered, giving an unfair advantage to one political party. Opponents argued that the process would give the secretary of state too much power over redistricting, and that the people on the commission would be unlikely to understand principles of redistricting. The proposal was approved with 61.28% of the vote.

References

  1. Taylor, Tristan (9 November 2022). "What Is the Michigan Working Class Party?". Left Voice.
  2. "Statement by Working Class Party of Maryland". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  3. 1 2 "Political_Party_Status_482649_7.pdf" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  4. Dupuis, Mary (31 October 2022). "What's the WC on the Ballot? Mary Anne Hering Explains the Working Class Party". Oakland County Times.
  5. "Working Class Party Chooses Its 2020 Michigan Candidates | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  6. "Working Class Party on the Ballot in Illinois, Maryland & Michigan | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  7. "I Stand for a Working Class Fight | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  8. "David Harding, Working Class Candidate". Archived from the original on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  9. "Juan Rey: A Worker for Congress". Archived from the original on 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  10. "The Spark Marketplace Leaflets". the-spark.net. Archived from the original on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  11. "2014 Election Results, Michigan | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  12. "Working Class Party Petition in Michigan Has Enough Valid Signatures | Ballot Access News". Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  13. Staff, Stateside (22 August 2016). "Michigan's newest political party gets certified today". www.michiganradio.org. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  14. "STATE OF MICHIGAN POLITICAL PARTY STATUS AUGUST 4, 2020 PRIMARY NOVEMBER 3, 2020 GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Michigan State Bureau of Elections. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  15. "Post Election Statement by Working Class Party | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  16. "Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago". chicagoelections.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  17. "Baltimore City Board of Elections, 2016 General Election Results - Election Summary Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  18. "California Secretary of State, Statewide Direct Primary Election - Statement of the Vote, June 5, 2018 - United States Representative in Congress by District, see page 10 in the 82-congress.pdf file" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  19. "2018 Michigan Official General Candidate Listing - 11/06/2018". miboecfr.nictusa.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  20. "Working Class Party Chooses Its 2020 Michigan Candidates". Working Class Party. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  21. "WCP Maryland Chooses Candidate | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  22. "Maryland State Board of Elections Summary of Voter Registration Activity Report December 2020" (PDF). Maryland State Board of Elections . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-27.
  23. "Results for WCP of Md in Baltimore Election | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  24. "Working People Need Our Own Party, Our Own Candidates, Organizers, Agitators, and Fighters — The Spark #1116". The Spark. Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  25. "To Put an End to Unemployment... | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  26. "To Stop the Decline in Our Standard of Living... | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  27. "To Control the Economy... | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  28. "Gary Walkowicz: Main Speech of the WCP Convention | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  29. "Juan Rey: Workers Need to Build Their Own Party | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-11. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  30. 1 2 "2014 Michigan Official General Election Results - 11/04/2014". mielections.us. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  31. 1 2 3 "2016 Michigan Official General Election Results - 11/08/2016". mielections.us. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  32. "Statement of Vote JUNE 5, 2018 STATEWIDE DIRECT PRIMARY ELECTION" (PDF).
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2018 Michigan Official General Election Results - 11/06/2018". mielections.us. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "2020 Michigan Official General Election Results - 11/03/2020". mielections.us. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  35. "DDHQ Election Results". results.decisiondeskhq.com. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2022 Michigan Unofficial General Election Results - 11/08/2022". mielections.us. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  37. "Juan Rey: A Worker on the Ballot! | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  38. "Official 2022 Election Results". elections.maryland.gov. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  39. 1 2 3 "November 4, 2014 General Election Results | Clerk". www.waynecounty.com. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  40. "Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago". chicagoelections.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  41. "2016 Election Results". elections.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  42. "2020 Election Results". elections.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-18.