Working Class Party

The Working Class Party is a political party based in Detroit, Michigan.[1][2] 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.[3] As of July 2020, it has ballot access in Maryland and Michigan.

Working Class Party
ChairmanLarry Christenson
Founded2016
HeadquartersDetroit
IdeologyProgressivism
Socialism
Political positionLeft-wing
Website
Working Class Party

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.[4][5][6]

History

The party can be traced back to a campaign carried out by people around the Trotskyist newspaper The Spark between 2011 and 2013.[7] 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 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.[8]

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.[9][10] 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.[11][12][13]

Similar campaigns in other states included for alderman in Chicago in the 25th ward. Candidate Ed Hershey received 614 votes (8.23%).[14] 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%).[15] 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%).[16]

In the 2018 midterm elections the Working Class Party is running 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 are fielded in districts in and around Detroit, but the party is also contesting districts in Grand Rapids, Flint and Saginaw.[17] The party won between 1.2% and 11.4% of the votes.

In the 2020 elections the party is running twelve candidates in Michigan for the US House of Representatives (five candidates), State House (five candidates) and two candidates for State Board of Education and David Harding for the mayor of Baltimore.[18][19] The party gained between 0.6% and 4.8% of the votes in the seats contested.

As of December 2020 2,102 voters are affiliated with the WCP in Maryland.[20] The party announced that it is planning to run candidates for governor in 2022 and for president in 2024 in order to maintain ballot access in Maryland.[21]

Ideology

The party is actively endorsed by the The Spark.[22] However the Working Class Party does not openly espouse Marxist political positions. The party supports broadly socialist positions such as putting an end to unemployment[23] and stopping the decline of pensions and social security.[24] They call for workers to look into the books of businesses.[25] They call for the unity of workers against the divide created by the bosses.[26] The party also supports the formation of a larger party for the working class, as they maintain that both the Republican, as well as the Democratic party, are controlled by big capital.[27]

Election results
Office Candidate State Votes % Misc.
2014 elections
United States House of Representatives Sam Johnson Michigan 3,466 2.1% 13th district, Detroit and suburbs
United States House of Representatives Gary Walkowicz Michigan 5,039 2.4% 12th district, suburbs of Detroit
Dearborn School Board Mary Anne Hering Michigan 5,153 9.9%
Dearborn School Board Kenneth Jannot Michigan 2,431 4.7%
Wayne County Community College Trustee David A. Roehrig Michigan 15,661 96.5% Elected unopposed, 2nd district
2015 elections
Chicago City Council Ed Hershey Illinois 614 8.2% 25th ward
2016 elections
United States House of Representatives Sam Johnson Michigan 8,835 3.4% 13th district, Detroit and suburbs
United States House of Representatives Gary Walkowicz Michigan 9,183 2.8% 12th district, suburbs of Detroit
State Board of Education Mary Anne Hering Michigan 224,392 2.7% Statewide office
Baltimore City Council David Harding Maryland 1,426 8.3% 14th district
2018 elections
United States House of Representatives Juan Rey California 944 1.5% Nonpartisan blanket primary, 29th district, San Fernando Valley
State Board of Education Logan Smith Michigan 90,670 1.3% Statewide office
State Board of Education Mary Anne Hering Michigan 125,171 1.7% Statewide office
State Senate Hali McEachern Michigan 2,089 2.9% 3rd district, Dearborn
State Senate Larry Betts Michigan 3,879 4.4% 5th district, Dearborn Heights
State Senate Louis Palus Michigan 1,313 1.2% 29th district, Grand Rapids
State Senate Thomas Repasky Michigan 2,954 2.4% 18th district, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti
United States House of Representatives Andrea Kirby Michigan 6,862 2.2% 9th district, parts of Oakland and Macomb counties
United States House of Representatives Gary Walkowicz Michigan 6,691 2.3% 12th district, suburbs of Detroit
United States House of Representatives Kathy Goodwin Michigan 12,645 4.6% 5th district, Flint and Saginaw
United States House of Representatives Philip Kolody Michigan 4,702 1.8% 14th district, Detroit, Farmington Hills and suburbs of Pontiac
United States House of Representatives Sam Johnson Michigan 21,978 11.4% 13th district, Detroit and suburbs
2020 elections
Mayor of Baltimore David Harding Maryland 2,612 1.6%
United States House of Representatives Kathy Goodwin Michigan 8,068 2.3% 5th district, Flint and Saginaw
United States House of Representatives Andrea Kirby Michigan 9,030 2.3% 9th district, parts of Oakland and Macomb counties
United States House of Representatives Gary Walkowicz Michigan 8,542 2.9% 12th district, suburbs of Detroit
United States House of Representatives Sam Johnson Michigan 3,135 2.5% 13th district, Detroit and suburbs
United States House of Representatives Philip Kolody Michigan 1,776 0.8% 14th district, Detroit, Farmington Hills and suburbs of Pontiac
State Board of Education Hali McEachern Michigan 82,416 0.8% Statewide office
State Board of Education Mary Anne Hering Michigan 146,538 1.5% Statewide office
State House of Representatives Linda Rayburn Michigan 959 3.3% 4th district, Detroit and Hamtramck
State House of Representatives Kimberly Givens Michigan 1,178 3.5% 7th district, Detroit and Highland Park
State House of Representatives Simone R. Coleman Michigan 1,938 4.8% 14th district, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, Riverview, and Wyandotte
State House of Representatives Larry Darnell Betts Michigan 970 2.4% 15th district, Dearborn
State House of Representatives Louis Palus Michigan 1,216 3.0% 75th district, Grand Rapids

See also

References
  1. "Statement by Working Class Party of Maryland | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  2. "Political_Party_Status_482649_7.pdf" (PDF).
  3. "Working Class Party Chooses Its 2020 Michigan Candidates | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  4. "I Stand for a Working Class Fight".
  5. "David Harding, Working Class Candidate".
  6. "Juan Rey: A Worker for Congress".
  7. "Marketplace Leaflets".
  8. "2014 Election Results, Michigan".
  9. "Working Class Party Petition in Michigan Has Enough Valid Signatures".
  10. "Michigan's newest political party gets certified today".
  11. "STATE OF MICHIGAN POLITICAL PARTY STATUS AUGUST 4, 2020 PRIMARY NOVEMBER 3, 2020 GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Michigan State Bureau of Elections.
  12. "Political_Party_Status_482649_7.pdf" (PDF).
  13. "Post Election Statement by Working Class Party".
  14. "2015 Municipal General - 2/24/15 Alderman 25th Ward - Please press the "submit" button in the page to see the results".
  15. "Baltimore City Board of Elections, 2016 General Election Results - Election Summary Report" (PDF).
  16. "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).
  17. "2018 Michigan Official General Candidate Listing - 11/06/2018". miboecfr.nictusa.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  18. "Working Class Party Chooses Its 2020 Michigan Candidates". Working Class Party. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  19. "WCP Maryland Chooses Candidate | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  20. "Maryland State Board of Elections Summary of Voter Registration Activity Report December 2020" (PDF). Maryland State Board of Elections.
  21. "Results for WCP of Md in Baltimore Election | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  22. "Working People Need Our Own Party, Our Own Candidates, Organizers, Agitators, and Fighters — The Spark #1116". The Spark. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  23. "To Put an End to Unemployment..."
  24. "To Stop the Decline in Our Standard of Living..."
  25. "To Control the Economy..."
  26. "Gary Walkowicz: Main Speech of the WCP Convention".
  27. "Juan Rey: Workers Need to Build Their Own Party | Working Class Fight". www.workingclassfight.com. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
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