The fight to further the cause of workers rights suffered a major setback in the November election, although the vast majority of NUHW-backed candidates still won their races in California.
The election of Donald Trump along with a Republican-majority House and Senate all but guarantees a National Labor Relations Board that will be hostile to the interests of workers and an administration that is hostile to allowing California to advance toward a Medicare for All, single-payer healthcare system.
NUHW and our allies like the Working Families Party will be very active during the second Trump term to defend the rights of all workers as well as the rights of all Americans to make their own healthcare decisions and defend our members from any deportation dragnet.
While the federal landscape will be rough for at least the next two years, the vast majority of the candidates endorsed by our members and executive board in California did prevail as votes continued to trickle in.
Overall, with 4 races still too close to call, approximately 183 of our endorsed candidates were victorious while 40 were defeated.
In Northern California, key victories included Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas eking out a razor thin victory in her bid for Alameda County supervisor, Connie Chan and Chyanne Chen scoring upset victories in their bids for San Francisco City Council, Chris Rogers of Santa Rosa being elected to a State Assembly district that also includes Humboldt County; and Caroline Bañuelos and Roger Dickinson being elected to the Santa Rosa City Council.
Our second choice for San Francisco mayor, Daniel Lurie, also was victorious in a ranked choice election.
In the Central Valley, Josh Harder won re-election to congress, while Adam Gray’s race is still too close to call.
In Southern California, winners whose campaigns we prioritized included Isabel Jurado, who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council; Jessica Caloza, who was elected to the Assembly; and Terra Lawson Remer, who was re-elected to the San Diego City Council.
In the key Orange County congressional races, we helped elect Dave Min to the seat that Katie Porter vacated, and our endorsed candidate Derek Tran is currently leading incumbent Congresswoman Michelle Steel by several hundred votes.
