Origins Dan Cantor was the labor coordinator for
Jesse Jackson's 1988
presidential campaign. In 1990, Cantor and
Joel Rogers published
Party Time, a memo which argued that progressives should pursue an "inside/outside" strategy, working both "inside" and "outside" the
Democratic Party. To that end, Cantor and Rogers formed the
New Party in 1990, which hoped to use
electoral fusion to push the Democrats leftward. True to their inside/outside strategy, the New Party endorsed some liberal Democrats, such as
Barack Obama's successful 1996 run for
Illinois Senate District 13, and some progressives, such as
Danny Davis's successful 1996 run for , and several
Green Party candidates. In 1997, the New Party lost 6-3 in
Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party, which found that state bans on electoral fusion did
not violate the
First Amendment. With their strategy deflated, the New Party became defunct by 1998. Cantor sought to create a more traditional lib-left-labor coalition party which could compete in states with strong electoral fusion laws, like New York. In 1998, Cantor organized the Working Families Party with a coalition of
labor unions, advocacy groups including
Citizen Action of New York, and
community organizations including
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
Bill de Blasio, the future mayor of New York City and friend of Cantor, was present for the party's foundation. WFP leaders endorsed
Peter Vallone for
Governor of New York, who was the
Democratic Party candidate. WFP did so for both ideological and tactical reasons: Vallone roughly aligned with the party's policies, and Vallone was the most likely to gather 50,000 votes on the WFP ballot line, which would fulfill the legal requirement needed for the party to obtain automatic statewide
ballot access for 2000–2004. Vallone won 1,570,317 votes, of which 51,325 on the WFP ballot line. WFP also endorsed
Chuck Schumer's original 1998 New York Senate campaign against Republican incumbent Al D'Amato, who Schumer successfully defeated in the
1998 election.
2000–2004 In November 2000, New York WFP endorsee
Patricia Eddington won
New York State Assembly district 3. In the
2002 New York gubernatorial election, the
Liberal Party, running
Andrew Cuomo (who had withdrawn from the Democratic
primary), and the
Green Party, running academic
Stanley Aronowitz, failed to reach the threshold for statewide automatic
ballot access, which they had previously held. This left the WFP as the only left-progressive
minor party with a ballot line. In 2002, the
Connecticut Working Families Party (CTWFP) was formed by activist organizations including
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and labor unions including
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME),
Communications Workers of America (CWA), and
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). In the chaotic situation that followed the 2003 assassination of New York City councilman
James E. Davis by political rival
Othniel Askew, the slain councilman's brother Geoffrey Davis was chosen to succeed him in the Democratic primary in
Brooklyn's 35th City Council district. As it became clear that Geoffrey Davis lacked his late brother's political experience, fellow Democrat
Letitia James decided to challenge him in the general election. James prevailed, becoming the first minor party candidate elected solely on the WFP line.
2005–2009 In 2006, WFP began ballot access drives in California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Oregon, and South Carolina. In 2007, two Connecticut WFP endorsees, Luis Cotto and Larry Deutsch, won seats on the
Hartford City Council on the WFP ballot line. In 2008, South Carolina WFP convention endorsed five candidates for state and local office. One candidate, Eugene Platt, running for SC State House District 115, was also nominated by the
South Carolina Green Party. The nomination of Michael Cone for the
US Senate race, opposing incumbent
Lindsey Graham, marked the first time the South Carolina party nominated anyone for statewide office. In 2009, two candidates for the Board of Education in Bridgeport, Connecticut were also WFP-supported members of the board. In August 2009, various media raised questions about the relationship between the WFP, a non-profit political party, and a for-profit private company called Data and Field Services (DFS). An editorial in
The New York Times questioned whether DFS may be charging select clients below market rates for political services. In August 2010, the federal investigation into the party ended with no charges being filed, and no charges being referred to other law enforcement agencies.
2010–2014 In 2010, Connecticut WFP endorsed
Dannel Malloy for governor, who ran solely on the WFP ballot line. He received 26,308 votes as a Working Families candidate, putting him ahead of his Republican opponent, and securing ballot access for the party in that state. In 2010, WFP recruited and trained thirteen candidates for seats on the New York City Council, in preparation for the
2013 New York City Council election. Twelve of these candidates won. In 2011, Connecticut WFP won all three minority seats on the
Hartford City Council, eliminating all Republican representatives. As of 2016, the WFP continues to hold all minority seats on the Hartford City Council. In 2011 Connecticut WFP director Jon Green received a $10,000 fine for failing to wear his badge identifying him as a lobbyist while performing lobbying efforts. In 2012, Connecticut WFP backed
Chris Murphy's successful race against billionaire
Linda McMahon for the US Senate seat that was vacated by
Joe Lieberman, supported SEIU/CCAG leader and organizer
Christopher Donovan for Connecticut's 5th Congressional seat, as well as defeated a ballot initiative in
Bridgeport, Connecticut, that would have abolished the elected board of education. In 2014, New York WFP considered
Zephyr Teachout, but ultimately re-endorsed Cuomo for New York governor despite dissatisfaction and frustration with his first term. However, Cuomo resisted the party's influence and sabotaged the party electorally. In 2010 more than 150,000 of his votes came on the WFP line. As of November 7, 2014, 120,425 votes came on the WFP line for Cuomo.
2015–2019 In 2015, New York WFP ran 111 candidates and won 71 local offices. In a February 2015 special election,
Edwin Gomes won back their
Connecticut State Senate seat, which they had previously represented as a Democrat. Gomes was the first candidate to win to state legislative office running solely on the WFP ballot line. Richardson would run as a Democrat and WFP endorsee in 2016, 2018, and 2020. In December 2015, WFP endorsed
Bernie Sanders in his campaign to win the
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Sanders was WFP's first national endorsement. The endorsement followed a combined membership-drive and open poll among WFP enrolled members on whom to endorse for president in 2016. In 2016, after
Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee, WFP endorsed her for the
2016 United States presidential election. In an April 2017 special election, Connecticut WFP endorsee
Joshua M. Hall won a
Connecticut House of Representatives seat. Hall was the second candidate in WFP history to win state legislative office running solely on the WFP ballot line. Hall ran as a Democrat and WFP in 2018, then just as a Democrat from 2020–2024. On October 3, 2017, WFP endorsee
Randall Woodfin won the runoff election for
Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. In April 2018 an endorsement of
Cynthia Nixon over incumbent
Andrew Cuomo in Cuomo's bid for a third term as New York governor caused a schism in the party in which labor unions including New York's biggest union
Service Employees International Union and
Communications Workers of America indicated they would not support the party in the election. The withdrawal was believed would significantly hurt the party's finances which in 2018 was $1.7 million and statewide staff of about 15 people. The battle received considerable attention since there were concerns that Nixon might have drained enough votes from Cuomo in the general election to allow a Republican to be elected. On October 5, 2018, the WFP cleared Nixon from their ticket on the general election ballot and agreed to endorse Cuomo, who defeated Nixon in the Democratic primary, to preserve their ballot line placement. While campaigning in the
2018 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, WFP candidate
Liuba Grechen Shirley used campaign funds to pay a caregiver for her two young children. The FEC ruled that federal candidates can use campaign funds to pay for child care costs that result from time spent running for office. Grechen Shirley became the first woman in history to receive approval to spend campaign funds on child care. In September 2019, WFP polled its membership whether to endorse
Elizabeth Warren and
Bernie Sanders in the
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Warren won 60.91% of votes, Sanders 35.82%, and other options 3.27%. Therefore, WFP endorsed Warren on September 16, 2020. The poll was "weighted", with party leadership (56 people) and dues-paying members (about 90,000 people) each receiving 50% of the vote. which WFP leader
Maurice Mitchell claimed was necessary "to maintain the nature of [the] secret ballot". WFP had released the membership vote in 2015, On March 9, 2020, after
Elizabeth Warren exited the primary, WFP endorsed
Bernie Sanders for president. On August 13, 2020, WFP endorsed
Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee. On November 5, 2019, Pennsylvania WFP endorsee
Kendra Brooks won an at-large seat on
Philadelphia City Council. The City Council reserves two seats for a minority party. In the last 40 years, this was the first time one of those seats went to a non-Democrat, non-Republican candidate.
2020–2024 In the
2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, New York WFP initially gave a ranked endorsement of
Scott Stringer 1st,
Dianne Morales 2nd, and
Maya Wiley 3rd. After Stringer was accused of sexual assault, WFP rescinded his endorsement and issued a dual endorsement of Morales and Wiley. After Morales campaign staff alleged
union busting, WFP endorsed only Wiley. In 2023, Pennsylvania WFP endorsee
Kendra Brooks won re-election to their
Philadelphia City Council seat. In the same election, PAWFP candidate
Nicolas O'Rourke won the other at-large seat. WFP had won both two seats reserved for minority party members on Philadelphia City Council, bringing the total of WFP councilmembers to two. In October 2023, WFP released a statement responding to President Biden's address in which he reaffirmed U.S. support for
Israel in the
Gaza war and subsequent
invasion of Gaza. In the statement, federal affairs director Natalia Salgado expressed support for an
immediate ceasefire and criticized Biden for
providing Israel with military aid, stating "there is no military solution to this conflict, and there never has been." In the WFP response to Biden's
State of the Union in March 2024, delivered by
Nicolas O'Rourke, the party reaffirmed their opposition to the Biden administration's policies in handling the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling again for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and denouncing the "arrogant and extreme-right
Netanyahu Regime." The party would join the larger
protest vote movements targeting Biden's
re-election campaign in the
Democratic primaries, with the New York chapter supporting an effort that urged voters to leave their ballots blank in the
April primary; the final vote tally saw 40,000 blank ballots, 11.5% of the total vote share. In July 2024, Biden
suspended his re-election campaign following
concerns about his health and endorsed Vice President
Kamala Harris as his successor. The WFP officially endorsed Harris after she became the presumptive nominee, declaring "overwhelming support" to prevent
Donald Trump from returning to the presidency.
2025–present For the ranked-choice
Democratic primary preceding the
election for mayor of New York City, party leaders planned a two-part endorsement process in which they would initially announce a slate of candidates before later consolidating support behind a single candidate closer to the primary in order to have the strongest chance against former governor
Andrew Cuomo. The New York chapter announced its "Working Families slate" of four candidates in March 2025: city councillor
Adrienne Adams, city comptroller
Brad Lander, state assemblyman
Zohran Mamdani, and state senator
Zellnor Myrie. A separate announcement for a ranking of candidates was made in May, with Mamdani first, Lander second, Adams third, Myrie fourth, and state senator
Jessica Ramos added as the fifth ranked choice. Ramos' endorsement was revoked after she endorsed Cuomo on June 6. Party officials indicated that they would not support Cuomo in the race, even if he won the nomination. Mamdani won the primary by 12 points over Cuomo. Mamdani later won the 2025 New York City mayoral election on the Working Families ballot line. In February 2026, former New Jersey WFP executive director
Analilia Mejia won the primary for the
2026 New Jersey's 11th district special election. In April, Mejia easily won the general election, defeating
Republican nominee Joe Hathaway by 20 percentage points.
State of the Union responses Since 2019, WFP has recruited a major progressive elected official to deliver a
response to the State of the Union address by the
president of the United States, as is customary for the opposition party of the President: •
2019 response to
Trump:
Mandela Barnes, 45th
lieutenant governor of Wisconsin •
2020 response to
Trump:
Ayanna Pressley,
U.S. representative from
MA-07 •
2021 response to
Biden:
Jamaal Bowman, U.S. representative from
NY-16 •
2022 response to
Biden:
Rashida Tlaib, U.S. representative from
MI-13 •
2023 response to
Biden:
Delia Ramirez, U.S. representative from
IL-03 •
2024 response to
Biden:
Nicolas O'Rourke, Minority Whip of the
Philadelphia City Council •
2025 response to
Trump:
Lateefah Simon, U.S. representative from
CA-12 •
2026 response to
Trump:
Summer Lee, U.S. representative from
PA-12 == Elected officials ==