Working Families bet on 2026 as the right time for a third US party after a wave of wins

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 29 Dec 2025 07.00 EST
Last modified on Mon 29 Dec 2025 07.03 EST


The “time has come” for the Working Families party, the progressive third party’s national director said after a year of big wins and a growing hunger among voters for a home outside the two major political parties. “For 26 years, we’ve been building this argument,” Maurice Mitchell said. “And the argument has met the moment.”

The party, founded in 1998, helped elect Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor, worked to get rid of an electoral process in New Jersey that prioritized party insiders, and saw its endorsees win races across the country this year. The party has made inroads beyond deep-blue cities too, with endorsees winning in Dayton, Ohio, and Buffalo, New York.

In next year’s midterms, it will ramp up its involvement in primary elections, supporting candidates that emphasize working-class politics and seek to disrupt the political status quo. Already, Democratic candidates have laser-focused on affordability – something the Working Families party has advocated for.

The Working Families party describes itself as “a multiracial party that fights for workers over bosses and people over the powerful” that seeks to build “an America which realizes the promise – unrealized in our history – of freedom and equality for all”. In practice, candidates the party supports often run in Democratic primaries as insurgents aligned with its goals of affordability, improved conditions for workers, a stronger social safety net and reforms to the democratic process. Candidates can be endorsed by both Working Families and the Democratic party. “We cook what we have in the kitchen,” Mitchell said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/29/working-families-party-2026-run

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The Philadelphia City Council is made up of 10 "Councilmanic District" seats and 7 "At-Large" seats, where the latter has 2 seats reserved for a "minority party". As a blue city, that "minority party" has always been Republicans. But in the last City Council election in 2023, it ended up that the Working Families Party won BOTH of those "minority party" seats, thus shutting out the GOP (at least for "At-Large" ) from City Council. As it stands, there is a single District with a GOP member who has been in that seat for over 40 years and he is the only one out of the 17 members.

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. Hopefully WFP will provide leverage to counter Third Way's demand that Dems move to the right. Nt

[SCantiGOP]

3. More likely

They will help elect Republicans, the same way Nader gave us Bush.
No thanks, I will vote straight Democratic as usual.

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. Did you miss the part where the WFP candidates usually run as Democrats?

I’m not suggesting anyone vote third party, I’m suggesting the WFP candidates could have an influence on the DNC resisting Third Way pressure to move to the right.

[Roy Rolling]

2. Skeptical, not negative

Are the victories mentioned because of the party or the candidate? We’ve seen third parties before that have won individual cities or states but failed nationally. And more so, is endorsing a third party something that is counterproductive to the Democratic Party?

Third parties always benefit initial organizers, but the benefit for the entire electorate is not guaranteed and often comes at the cost of existing political parties.

I’ll be watching…

[dem4decades]

4. I don't look forward to 3rd party candidates electing Republicans.

[NeoTrajan]

5. Huge mistake

The Third Party gambit has failed every time, which is why no viable 3rd party exists

The GOP would be so thankful

[reACTIONary]

17. They don't run candidate, they...

.... endorse them. They may (or may not) be a true political party, but they don't run candidates opposing democrats. They endorse a Democrat in the primary and then again in the election.

[slightlv]

6. I'm skeptical, and envision more pain

while this is shaking out. I've said for years (close to a decade now), that not only the Repugs but also the Democrats will see a splitting off of new parties. But in the beginning, new parties only drag votes away from the main party and we can't handle that right now. To split the Democratic party would be death to all of us and the country in general, IMO. It would keep repugs in charge and on their full P2025 path.

Each of the party has, to a greater or lesser extent, parties more to the right of their center, as well as those more to the left of their center. It's only natural that in times of great duress, the schisms would become more visible and vocal. I just don't want to see them break our ability to regain government by 2028.

[J_William_Ryan]

7. "They will help elect Republicans"

Correct.

[BaronChocula]

8. A third party that promises what?

You want billionaires taxed fairly? Vote Democratic!
You want bodily autonomy for women? Vote Democratic!
You want extended health care subsidies? Vote Democratic!
You want actual immigration reform? Vote Democratic!
You want sensible gun regulation? Vote Democratic!
You want our country to stand up to Russia? Vote Democratic!
You want the climate crisis addressed (though it's probably too late for that)? Vote Democratic!

So what's this third party going to do for you???

[Initech]

11. Nothing except make things more fascist.

[Initech]

9. Third parties never win in the US. Vote for the one that's not fascist.

[House of Roberts]

10. Want to get oodles of Republican campaign money?

Declare yourself a third party with a liberal sounding name.

[Cha]

12. Hard Working Dems have had a "Wave Of Wins"

too.

TY

[cab67]

13. In other words....

...let's split the opposition and maintain a permanent Republican majority.

[travelingthrulife]

14. Then we get Republicans.

[Orrex]

15. Sounds like a great way to guarantee permanent Republican rule

[Progressive dog]

18. I voted for candidates

on the WFP line for several years, but only for candidates also on the Democrat line. I stopped when WFP put a candidate for NY governor against the Democrat and haven't voted their line since.
It's been a while. The candidate running against the Democratic governor secured the backing of the WFP and then challenged the governor in the Democratic primary. The governor won and the WFP did eventually back the Democrat.

[JustKay]

19. All they will do is siphon voters from the Democratic party.

Not what we need right now.

[Vogon_Glory]

20. If the Working Families Party works with Democrats the way that New York's Liberal Party worked with Democrats

in ages past, this could be a good thing for the constituentsy they claim to represent. If, however, they play the games that Ralph Nader played in 2000 and 2004 and that the Greens have done since 2000, it would cement the increasingly authoritarian right-wing kleptocracy that has steadily increased control over our nation for the last thirty-plus years, with the help of arrogant, know-nothing pundits and the corporate media as well as the right-wing propaganda and political machines.

[Martin68]

21. Oh, that's great. We are faced with a fascist, authoritarian threat against the US by the MAGA-Republicans, and you

suggest we dilute the Democratic-liberal opposition by supporting a third party? That's why Gore was defeated by Bush and we ended up with 911 and the occupation of Iraq.

[highplainsdem]

22. And there's an AI-oriented fake independent party, with the former president of FreedomWorks and

a former Trump pollster, planning to run their "independent" candidates in potentially close races next year.

Just posted about them in GD:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220896530

[somsai]

23. Not one single mention of what they want to do for me or my neighbors

They say they want to change the way we vote, but no mention of why I should vote for them. Universal $21 mim wage? I could get behind that. Socialized medicine? Worker rights to unemployment at a level comparable to what was lost maybe?

How are they different than either party?

Winning elections does nothing for me, legislating different policies does.

[oldmanlynn]

24. It might be beneficial for discussions in early primary season

But you wont peel off republicans at all and risk splitting democrats

[live love laugh]

25. I foresee another army of paid "influencers" pushing this divisiveness.

And it will hurt us all.

[RandySF]

26. Bad timing.