Last month, the Working Families Party nominee for Oregon Treasurer polled 7.32%, against a Republican and a Democrat. This is the highest percentage a Working Families Party nominee for statewide office has ever received, excluding races with only one major party nominee.

See this story about the Oregon race. Mary King, the WFP nominee, has been a Rhodes Scholar.

Previous to the Oregon 2024 race, the highest percentage the WFP had ever received in a statewide race with both major parties in the race had been in New York in 2022, when the WFP nominee for Comptroller (who was also the Democratic nominee) polled 5.62% on the WFP line.

States in which the WFP had had statewide nominees on the ballot are Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and South Carolina.

The Working Class Party received more votes by far in 2024 than ever before. It has been running in partisan elections in a few states starting in 2016. It abstains from statewide races (except for Michigan statewide educational elections, and one run for Maryland Governor), and generally concentrates on U.S. House races and a smaller number of legislative races.

It has only run candidates in California, Illinois, Maryland, and especially Michigan.

In 2024, it polled 123,788 votes for U.S. House, even though it only had 9 candidates. In California, it was lucky enough to run Juan Rey in a district in which no Republican filed to be on the ballot, the 37th district. In the top-two primary, the only candidates on the ballot were two Democrats, one Peace & Freedom candidate, and the Working Class candidate. The Working Class candidate placed second in the primary and polled 44,450 votes in the two-person general election.

In Michigan in 2024, where the party has been running U.S. House candidates starting in 2016, it polled its highest U.S. House vote ever, 68,634 votes. It ran seven candidates. All seven districts also had a Democrat and a Republican in the race.

In Illinois in 2024, it ran one candidate who polled 10,704 votes in a race with both a Democrat and a Republican. Edward Hershey polled 5.19%, just enough to give the party qualified status in that one district, the Fourth District.

The party also polled its highest vote total ever for a statewide Michigan educational post. Mary Anne Hering polled 234,584 votes for State Board of Education, a higher vote total than any other minor party received in 2024 in any of the educational elections.

The party was qualified in Maryland in 2022, but did not poll enough votes to stay on, and was not on the ballot in 2024.

Identical bills have been introduced in the New Jersey legislature to increase the petition requirements for both primary and general elections. SB 3994 and AB 5117 increase the general election statewide petition from 800 signatures to 2,000. For U.S. House, the increase is from 100 to 250 signatures.

For primaries, statewide petitions rise from 1,000 to 2,500 signatures. U.S. House rises from 200 to 500. Legislature rises from 100 to 250.

AB 5117 was introduced December 9, and passed the Assembly on December 19 by a vote of 46-27. SB 3994 passed the Senate State Government Committee on December 19. Thanks to Deirdre Goldfarb for this news.