Working Families Party announces new chapter In Delaware

The Working Families Party recently announced a merger with Leftward Delaware to form the Delaware Working Families Party.

Leftward Delaware launched in January 2019 and has since worked closely with WFP and a coalition of Delaware community organizations and activists.

The Working Families Party is the grassroots political party of the multiracial working class. The WFP has been supporting progressive candidates in Delaware since 2018, starting with Kerri Evelyn Harris’ bid for U.S. Senate. This year the WFP presented a progressive slate of state legislators, including Black, LGBTQ, and Muslim candidates who ousted five white male members of the Delaware Legislature.

"After the success of our primary slate this year, we're excited to bring the progressive movement to Dover and help win a $15 minimum wage and build a powerful progressive base," said Vanessa Clifford, mid-Atlantic political director at the Working Families Party. "Working families in Delaware deserve representatives who will fight for their interests instead of protecting corporate bottom lines. We’re excited to continue to support Working Families Democrats who will challenge the existing ‘Delaware way’ of corporate-dominated politics.”

“With the support of WFP, four of us beat some of the longest-serving corporate-backed incumbents to change the course of politics in Delaware’s General Assembly,” said Delaware Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, D-Newark. “The launch of the Delaware WFP marks an important step toward building the infrastructure to make every election cycle like 2020’s. Working families deserve a seat at the table, and the issues that we face deserve to be on the agenda. I’m excited to see how Delaware WFP will change our state for the better.”

“I'm excited because the Working Families Party helps build leaders in addition to the phenomenal campaign support they provide," said Tyeisha Grier, Delaware WFP activist. "Campaign funds may go away, but with DE WFP, we're building a legacy of strong organizers and leaders."

“I’m thrilled to be working with WFP to help bring economic, social, and racial justice to the First State, and to stand in solidarity and fight for hardworking everyday Delawareans,” said Delaware Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow.

“I’m excited about the creation of a new WFP chapter here in the First State because it shows a new era for Delaware politics that looks to center everyday people by promoting working-class issues,” said Coby Owens, Delaware WFP activist. “By propelling a younger, more diverse generation of organizers into office, we see a new energy that will only help guide the Democratic Party toward the future.”

The WFP has worked to build Delaware’s progressive movement by supporting candidate and activist trainings, endorsing and providing campaign support to progressive down-ballot and national races, including supporting Jess Scarane’s primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, funding and running an independent expenditure this year.

This year, the Working Families Party drove a wave of progressive victories across America. The WFP helped elect progressive champions Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones to Congress in New York, ousted five conservative Democratic state senators in New Mexico, helped D.C. Council Member-elect Janeese Lewis George beat back scaremongering attacks about defunding the police department, and won 10 competitive district attorney races. In the general election, the WFP mobilized hundreds of thousands of voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona to defeat Donald Trump.

The WFP has also played a critical role in winning a $15 minimum wage in states and cities across the country, including Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Denver, with active campaigns in Rhode Island and New Mexico.