Please read the below memo from WFP National Director Maurice Mitchell:

Nov. 11, 2024
To: Working Families Party National Committee
From: Maurice Mitchell, Working Families Party National Director
Re: What happens next

It’s a few days after election day. You might be feeling scared or angry, or confused or just checked out. The dust is still settling. Whatever you feel today, allow yourself to feel it. And then take a deep breath.

I want to start with something that might not be obvious:

Though it may not feel like it today, this is the beginning of the end of the Trump and the MAGA era.

This is why: Trump and his allies don’t have any solutions to the problems that people are facing. What they have to offer is fear and division. In an atomized, anxious and highly polarized time that can work — for a minute. But Trump won by positioning himself as a change agent to an unhappy country. Once he becomes President, the script flips: he is the power. And enriching himself and his billionaire friends won’t help every day Americans. Neither will his inevitable attacks on our neighbors.

Zooming out: around the world, incumbent parties are taking heavy losses in the wake of the destabilization of COVID and global inflation. It was never going to be an easy road for Harris — leading the incumbent party at a time when two-thirds of the people say the country is on the wrong track. We aren’t the only place in the world where an authoritarian strong man gains power by saying that he alone has the solutions.

We saw the unease manifesting around the country in our conversations with working-class voters. The NY Times podcast The Run Up got to take an in-depth look at some of those conversations in Philadelphia if you want to hear a few. It’s not so different from what we heard in Atlanta or Milwaukee or Phoenix. What we found from our conversations all year long is: working class people are hurting and they’re not convinced that anyone really cares or has the solutions.

Six months ago, Biden was the Democratic nominee. He was bleeding support from young voters and working-class Black and brown voters. The top of the ticket switch provided a new moment of hope — but it wasn’t enough. Democrats have been bleeding working class voters for years. Kamala Harris didn’t solve it — but surely she didn’t start it either.

If you are reading this memo, it’s because you are part of the solution. Here’s where we start:

• We’re going to have to protect our people. When the finger-pointing from the MAGA movement turns into concrete legislation, we need to be ready to have each others’ backs. All we’ve got is each other.
• We need to defend against cynicism. People will check out if they think it’s hopeless. Let me assure you: it is not. Bigger bullies than Trump have been toppled. We have all the tools of our democracy at our disposal. What authoritarians want most is for you to surrender them yourself. Your vote, your voice, your ability to connect with your neighbors and organize your community. Don’t give that away.
• We need a plan. Trump’s plans, if enacted, will impoverish people, hurt people, and yes, kill people. But we can stop them, just like we did so often during the first term. It’s not just defense. We’ll need to go on offense at the state and local level, win policies that benefit working people, and pick fights that fracture Trump’s base in advance of the 2026 midterms — where we flip Congressional and state power away from the Republicans.
• We need to operate with humility. I won’t claim to have all the answers either. We just went all in on an election and faced many defeats. But we are all going to need to operate outside our comfort zone and build connections with people who didn’t vote the same way we did in order to build a “we” big enough to win.

The days following a big election are full of hot takes. Be wary of those who suggest the answer is exactly what they thought the day before Election Day. And given the slide towards Trump that hit voters in all 50 states and in all kinds of counties, I also caution against playing the blame game to point the finger at certain demographic groups or specific campaign strategies.

But here’s one thing I believe: WFP was built for this moment. We know we need a political voice that represents and fights for working-class voters of every race. We need a party. We will and must take that project of party building rigorously.

The need for a party that focuses on the working class — the WFP — is the point I made on the Thursday night Mass Call WFP hosted along with Moveon, Indivisible for more than 100k viewers. It’s also the point I made this weekend on MSNBC’s Ayman Reports. I’m so glad to be building that party with all of you.

Sometimes, Democratic campaigns treat Black and brown working people as just a “mobilization” target — assuming they’re already on board. Often, they treat white working-class people as unreachable. We’re going to have to challenge both of those views to build a new working-class majority. Otherwise, we’re stuck with Trump and his government of, by and for the billionaire class.

We should not assume that every vote cast for Trump is in affirmative support for his entire radical agenda. In some cases, it’s a vote simply for discontent — and in our rigid two party system, the only way you punish one party is to reward the other. We need to find a home for those unhappy voters mad at the political and economic system and unsatisfied with both major parties.

Though we didn’t win the presidential race, I am proud of the work that you all did — every volunteer, candidate, and party leader. We mobilized at an incredible scale. Together with our coalition, we knocked many millions of doors. We ran powerful ads that were rooted in the best messages developed by rigorous research on working-class voters, and so much more. My last memo has a fuller rundown of all the incredible work you all did.

A presidential race is an enormous undertaking. Early analysis appears to show that the movement towards Trump was much smaller in the purple states than in the nation as whole — which demonstrates the fact that our work really mattered. And it also wasn’t enough.

Despite the gloomy headline, there are a number of green shoots worth celebrating as well, and worth examining for lessons.

Fighting to Block MAGA control of Congress:

Last year, WFP organized and launched two new broad labor and community coalitions this year to fill a much-needed field mobilization gap in blue states: Battleground New York and Battleground California.

In New York, we appear to be on track to pick up three districts: Josh Riley in NY-19 (where the votes on the WFP line are the margin of victory), John Mannion in NY-22, and Laura Gillen in NY-4. (If you include the special election in NY-3 earlier in the year where BGNY helped elect Tom Suozzi, that’s four pickups.)

In California, the most competitive races won’t be called for at least a few more days as the mail ballots get counted. Late ballots typically trend towards Democrats, so we’re optimistic we might win a few more.

A handful of competitive Congressional races haven’t been called yet. There remains a possibility that once all the votes are counted, we will have achieved a House Democratic majority, or close to it — which would be a significant check on Trump. And if it happens, it will be in significant part because of the work of WFP.

We also prioritized defense for WFP-endorsed incumbents in tough seats: Pat Ryan in NY-18, Jahana Hayes in CT-5, and Gabe Vazquez in NM-2, running in a majority Latino district where WFP and our partners went all out. All three expanded their margins over two years ago.

We’re disappointed that NJ WFP director Sue Altman fell short in NJ-7 in her uphill race. But we’re delighted to add a new WFP champion to Congress in Lateefah Simon in CA-12, who succeeds Barbara Lee.

In the upper chamber: though Republicans will control the Senate, we’re proud of the voter mobilization work we did in Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona that helped win Democratic Senate seats in states Harris lost. In Pennsylvania, at this moment Senator Bob Casey’s race is too close to call, but PA WFP is mobilizing for ballot cure to ensure every voter is heard.

Bucking the National Trend: Focus on Connecticut

Perhaps our most successful general election state was Connecticut. It’s a blue state, but like every state, it has historically purple and Republican-leaning areas. And WFP’s strategy to polarize and electoralize the issue of paid sick days appears to have paid dividends.

WFP-endorsed Democrats picked up six Republican-held districts in the State House, with candidates including a teacher (Nick Menapace), two nurses (Rebecca Martinez and Kaitlyn Shake) a labor organizer (Nick Gauthier), a small business owner (Ken Gucker) and a climate activist (MJ Shannon). At the same time, two corporate Democrats in the house who had opposed paid sick days lost their seats.

Also: three swing district WFP incumbents in the state senate who are all labor leaders (yes, CT WFP has elected a lot of labor leaders!) faced serious challenges and prevailed: Julie Kushner, a former UAW leader and WFP founding member, Jan Hochadel, the Connecticut AFT President and Martha Marx, a former nurses union leader (Visiting Nurses Association / AFT).

State legislative balance of power:

This fall, WFP worked in three purple states to block Republicans power in the legislature:

• In Wisconsin, with the help of new, fairer district lines, the Democrats have broken the Republican supermajority that had been overriding Gov. Tony Evers. WFP candidates picked up three of those purple seats: Angelina Cruz, the President of the Racine Educators Association,Christian Phelps, who works with the Wisconsin Public Education Network, Rep. Jenna Jacobson, a WFP member, and Rep. Robyn Vining a nonprofit leader (an incumbent thrown into a purple district race against a Republican incumbent.)
• In Pennsylvania, Democrats held a bare majority in the state house before Election Day. Though WFP’s top Republican-district candidate Anna Thomas fell just short, Democrats held their ground and blocked Republicans from flipping the chamber.
• In Arizona, Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers. Unfortunately, Republicans actually slightly increased those majorities this cycle, with our top purple-district candidate Judy Schweibert falling short. However, WFP incumbents like Rep. Lorena Austin held their seats as other Dems lost.
• And: one year ago in Virginia’s off-cycle legislative elections, WFP helped flip the Virginia House of Delegates after winning 5 of our 7 priority legislative primaries, including ousting two corporate Democratic incumbents.

In several blue states, we added new WFP champions to growing WFP blocs in the state legislature, including:

• In Delaware: Kam Smith, a WFP champ and human services professional who unseated the Delaware Speaker of the House.
• In New York: three working class women of color, Claire Valdez, Gabriella Romero, and Larinda Hooks.
• In Connecticut: WFP champ Laurie Sweet won her primary by just 15 votes.
• In New Mexico: a slate of eight WFP champs defeated corporate Democrats in legislative primaries, including: Joseph Hernandez, Michelle Paulene Abeyta, Sarah Silva and Heather Berghmans.
• In California: our work to build WFP power in the legislature continues as we elected WFP champ Sade Elhawary to the state Assembly in Los Angeles.

Winning Purple Districts Around the County:

Though Kamala Harris trailed in much of the nation’s most hotly contested terrain, WFP candidates won competitive battleground state legislative races in swing districts in every region of the country.

One great example is Rhode Island’s Megan Cotter, a WFP state legislator in a pro-Trump district. With WFP support, Megan eked out a 32-vote win in 2022. This cycle Megan expanded her margin of victory significantly despite national headwinds. See this local public radio segment for more.

In Delaware, WFP’s Dr. Frank Burns flipped a Republican district 58–42. Tribal government attorney and WFP candidate Anthony Broadman ran on housing and homelessness to cinch a victory in Oregon, giving Democrats a supermajority in the state senate. CWA local president Chris Ryan, a WFP candidate, is leading his opponent by 500 votes in the race for New York’s 50th senate seat. In New Mexico, WFP-endorsed and first-time candidate Sarah Silva leaped into the race after the Democratic incumbent passed away, and won in a district that is sometimes decided by 100 votes or fewer.

If you’ve noticed a trend of working class candidates and labor leader candidates running strong in purple districts, you’re not wrong. (Also: Dan Osborn, a labor leader running as an independent, ran significantly ahead of the normal Democratic performance in Nebraska.) This is a pattern we’re noticing and exciting to continue investing in.

Candidates Under Attack:

WFP stepped up for candidates threatened with unique attack and scrutiny.

In Florida, the WFP’s Monique Worrell successfully reclaimed her role as State’s Attorney seat after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis removed her from office in a shameless authoritarian power grab. She beat DeSantis’ hand-picked replacement, an independent, even after DeSantis intervened to ensure there would not be a three way race.

In Texas, Jose Garza, is the Travis County District Attorney and a WFP champ and one of the nation’s leading criminal justice reformers. Elon Musk’s America PAC spent heavily demonizing him, but Garza romped, with a 2–1 margin.

WFP champ Rep. Ruwa Romman, who represents a purple district in Georgia, rose to significant national attention for her advocacy for Palestinian human rights. (She had been on the shortlist as one of the possible Palestinian-Americicans to address the DNC, before being declined.) She held her seat by an 18 point margin.

Municipal Power:

Some states have municipal elections on the same calendar as the November general elections. We had significant WFP growth, especially in the West.

In Portland, Oregon, we helped elect Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, and Mitch Green to Portland City Council as part of a slate of 7 of our candidates that won a progressive majority on City Council for the first time in memory. In Multnomah County, where Portland resides, Shannon Singleton and Meghan Moyer were elected to County Commissioner seats.

In Seattle, WFP champ Alexis Mercedes Rinck defeated a Chamber of Commerce-backed candidate for a seat on the Seattle City Council.

WFP-endorsed Phoenix City Council candidate Anna Hernandez won a tough four-way race with 53% of the vote.

And in Los Angeles, WFP-backed Ysabel Jurado, a tenants rights attorney, unseated Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León.

Ballot Initiatives:

WFP and our allies also saw success in ballot measures across the country. In New York, voters approved an Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. In Arizona we helped enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and Colorado did the same for same-sex marriage. In Denver, we won a ballot measure to extend collective bargaining rights to city employees. And in California: it’s too close to call but we may have succeeded on a very modest budget in winning a statewide initiative to raise the minimum wage.

We also stopped some terrible ballot measures in their tracks, whether it was a Republican gerrymandering measure in Ohio or an effort by a right-wing billionaire to buy elections through a jungle primary system in Colorado.

And there were other bright spots beyond our work. Even as Missouri voters went hard for Trump, they approved abortion protections, raising the minimum wage, and guaranteeing paid sick days. Our ideas and our policies continue to be winners, and that’s a strong foundation to build an electoral coalition.

I’ll close with this. We live in an atomized, isolated and polarized moment. That isolation and that loneliness is also fodder for cynicism and for the advance of the right-wing.

I believe we need stronger communities where we can practice solidarity. Blessed are the organized.

I want to invite you today to make the Working Families Party your political home. Please join us by becoming a dues-paying member.

In solidarity,

Maurice Mitchell