Working Families Party Maps 2026 Midterm Push After May Day Protests

Far-left nonprofits that staged May Day protests last week are now rallying voters for the 2026 midterm elections and urging Democrats to shift leftward. Organizers criticized party leaders for avoiding their candidates.

May Day Strong, a coalition behind last week's events, hosted an hour-long webinar Tuesday night. Speakers outlined plans to secure victories in key races and at the ballot box.

The Working Families Party took a leading role. Political experts note its rising sway in races nationwide. Fox News Digital found the party joined about 600 groups with $2 billion in collective revenues to hold an estimated 6,000 May Day events. Many pushed anti-American and pro-communist messages.

Public data shows the party endorsing candidates in 730 races across 19 states. Contests range from U.S. Senate seats to the Wauwatosa School Board in Wisconsin and Mecklenburg County sheriff in North Carolina.

Maurice "Moe" Mitchell, the party's national director, opened the call. "Help elect WFP champions across the country by joining upcoming phone banks and canvases," he said. "We're going to organize our communities and build working class power at the ballot box."

Neither the party nor Mitchell replied to comment requests.

Other speakers echoed the ballot box theme. Many represented nonprofits limited in political activities, yet the session focused on elections, voting rights, redistricting, canvassing and midterm prep.

"We have such an overwhelming amount of support at the polls that this election cannot be stolen," said moderator Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, a movement strategist for May Day Strong.

Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, added, "We have to legislate, and we have to litigate, and we have to vote. But all of that has to matter because we are organizing them to an expansion of democracy."

Republican podcast host Jon Reid, who lost a Virginia lieutenant governor race last year to a Working Families-backed candidate, called the groups a danger. "This is no longer some college student who is reading Karl Marx. There are organized groups – from the Working Families Party to the Democratic Socialists of America – that have clearly put together a plan to execute a takeover of America, city by city. We have to pay attention to them," he said. "They are moving swiftly to try to galvanize the disgruntled."

The party describes itself as a multiracial party of the working class. It backs free universal healthcare, higher minimum wages, free college, attacks on the rich and capitalism, plus openly socialist candidates.

In 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and a Democratic Socialists of America member, called it the closest match to his democratic socialism vision.

New York leads with 393 endorsements this year, including Zohran Mamdani for mayor last year, Letitia James for attorney general, Brad Lander and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the U.S. House. California follows with 89, Oregon 48, Wisconsin 38 and Colorado 35. Pennsylvania has 30, Georgia 20, Maryland 13 and New Jersey 10. North Carolina and Texas have nine each, District of Columbia eight, Washington seven, Ohio and Delaware six each, Michigan five. Illinois, Kentucky and Maine have one each.

In July 2023, the party highlighted electing progressive champions like Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., former Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas.

Mitchell joined a Capitol Hill press event in late April beside Frost, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz.

The party challenges Democrats in primaries, urging followers to reject party-backed candidates for its picks. On Tuesday, it posted about a California House race: "THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS TRYING TO TANK A WORKING FAMILIES PARTY CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS WITH THE PRIMARY JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY." "Well folks, looks like the Democratic party establishment is back again with the shenanigans," the post said.

Mitchell pushed ballot box action in the webinar. "We can rack up more wins in state after state and in Congress too, but we can't win any of that if we don't also defend our democracy," he said.

As a political party and PAC, it can donate to candidates and make endorsements, unlike 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits. It raised $12,586,461.21 from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2025, per Federal Election Commission records.

Its 501(c)(4) arm, Working Families Organization Inc., reported $54.3 million in 2024 revenues. A sister 501(c)(3), Working Families Power Ballot Initiative Project Inc., faces stricter limits.

This setup lets the network prioritize campaigns, candidates and elections over single issues. It gathers funds via ActBlue, a Democratic platform under Justice Department scrutiny. ActBlue denies misconduct.

Mitchell closed by saying, "May Day wasn't the end. It was not the end. This is just the beginning. We're getting started."