Working People Over PACs: UAW Ground Game Helps Power Primary Victories Statewide
After months of organizing on shop floors and in communities across Michigan, UAW members helped deliver a rebuke to billionaire-funded politics on Tuesday, powering victories for working-class champions across the state.
Leading the ticket, UAW-endorsed Abdul El-Sayed defeated an obscene flood of outside spending to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate through a grassroots campaign fueled in large part by UAW members. UAW-endorsed Jocelyn Benson won the Democratic nomination for governor, while Donavan McKinney won Michigan’s 13th Congressional District after earning the union’s support.
From Detroit to Grand Rapids, Flint to Three Rivers, nearly 800 UAW members knocked doors, made phone calls, and organized conversations with coworkers, friends, neighbors, and family members to build the kind of political operation corporate money can’t buy. With more than 350,000 active and retired members in Michigan, the union also mounted a formidable early vote program, helping turn out nearly 113,000 UAW voters before Election Day—almost one in every ten early votes cast statewide.
By the Numbers
Nearly 800 UAW members knocked on 15,000 doors, made more than 145,000 phone calls, and organized worker-to-worker conversations that helped turn out 112,887 UAW voters during Michigan’s early voting period. Member volunteers launched canvasses and phone banks in Detroit, Taylor, Warren, Flint, Saginaw, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Three Rivers, demonstrating the strength of a statewide, member-led political operation.
“UAW members are done with business as usual in Michigan. The billionaire class thought they could buy another election. They underestimated the power of workers talking to workers. Shop floor conversations beat Wall Street’s checkbook. We backed Abdul because he answers to workers—not billionaires or corporate PACs. Tonight showed what happens when working people get organized and fight together. We are ready for two working-class champions at the top of the ticket in Michigan with Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate and Jocelyn Benson for Governor. Michigan voters chose candidates who know the economy should work for working people—not just the wealthy and well-connected,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.
“Corporate America poured millions into this race because they knew Abdul wouldn’t work for them. Our members know what’s at stake. Every contract fight, corporations force us to bargain over access to health care instead of winning bigger raises, stronger retirements, and more time with our families. That’s exactly why we’re fighting for Medicare for All. Abdul shares that vision, and we’re going to send him to the U.S. Senate to help make it a reality,” said UAW Region 1 Director LaShawn English.
“The days of taking labor’s support for granted are over. Abdul earned our members’ trust the old-fashioned way—by showing up on picket lines and standing with workers when it mattered. That’s worth more than any billionaire’s campaign check, and that’s why working people delivered this victory,” said UAW Region 1A Director Mark DePaoli.
“When our American Axle members went on strike for a future they could build a family on, Abdul stood with them. Workers don’t forget who shows up when the fight is real. That’s something no super PAC can buy and no billionaire can erase. The members in Three Rivers are ready to finish the job and send Abdul to Washington in November,” said UAW Region 1D Director Steve Dawes.
Background
The UAW’s endorsement followed one of the union’s most transparent and member-driven political programs. Members heard directly from candidates at the union’s February CAP Conference, participated in additional Michigan CAP Council forums, and evaluated candidates through member surveys before endorsing Abdul El-Sayed in June.
El-Sayed earned the endorsement by consistently standing with working people against corporate greed and for Medicare for All. Throughout the primary, UAW members built a statewide field operation rooted in solidarity instead of billionaire money.
Tuesday’s results are part of a growing national movement led by UAW members to elect leaders who answer to working people instead of corporate donors. Alongside Michigan’s victories, UAW members have helped current and former UAW members Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York, Troy Jackson in Maine, and Randy Villegas in California secure the Democratic nomination and will fight to send these candidates to Washington in November. Across key battleground states, union members are building durable political power from the shop floor up—proving that when workers organize independently, they can take on corporate money and win.
