We Should Pick Democrats Who Don’t Suck
By 
We call on elected officials to pick a side. You can fight for the working class or do the bidding of billionaires and corporations, but you cannot do both. If Democrats want to win, they must prove they are on the side of workers.
You don’t have to look far back to see Democratic governors choosing otherwise. In 2025, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont vetoed unemployment benefits for striking workers—twice. In 2026, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers. And just weeks ago, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer vetoed nine bills restoring pensions, lowering health care costs, and restoring bargaining rights for public-sector workers.
Those vetoes came after Michigan Democrats fought an 18-month legal battle to force the bills to the governor’s desk. When the courts finally ordered them delivered, Whitmer vetoed all nine the same day—without so much as a phone call to legislative leaders or the unions that helped elect her.
For me, Whitmer’s vetoes were disappointing but not surprising. She had already shown where she stood during the Stand Up Strike in 2023.
Autoworkers made massive financial concessions to accommodate automakers during economic downturns, but especially in 2008. Workers were told that when the companies recovered, so would we, but that never happened.That was the catalyst for the historic 2023 UAW Stand Up Strike, where workers took on some of the biggest corporations in America after years of soaring corporate profits, while workers remained stuck with the sacrifices they had made over a decade before. We fought to eliminate the tier system, restore COLA (cost of living allowance), strengthen retirement security, and win workers their fair share.
At the height of the Stand Up Strike, Bill Ford began making barely veiled threats that if workers asked for too much, jobs would go elsewhere. It’s a fear tactic that companies use, threatening job loss if workers demand their fair share. That’s when we need allies to stand strong with workers, but that’s not what we got from Governor Whitmer.
After being made aware that Governor Whitmer was going to be making a statement, I reached out. I told the governor that we knew Ford could afford to do better for workers, and that she should stay out and let us handle our business. She chose to make statements anyway, carrying Bill Ford’s water.
I was floored. A Democratic governor in Michigan—the home of the UAW, whom we had enthusiastically endorsed—picked a side. It was the side of the companies.
We won anyway.
Whitmer taking her high approval among Democrats and completely blowing by cozying up with Trump is a remarkable moment and probably explains something about El-Sayed blowing Haley Stevens out of the water in this Senate primary. Democrats want Democrats who believe in Democratic values. Seems like something we should all believe in.