DETROIT: As election results rolled in from across the country Tuesday night and a Democratic wave took shape, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain told Fox News Digital that the party's sweeping midterm victories offer no guarantee that working people will remain in its corner when the 2028 presidential election arrives.
Speaking at the Michigan Democratic Party's election night watch party, Fain framed the results as conditional rather than a lasting realignment. "It makes me confident that the working class will back whoever supports them, who they see getting behind their issues. I say this all the time, look, we're not Republicans, we are not Democrats, we aren't independents. We support people that back us," he said.
"I just believe, you know, it's a wake-up call to everyone that they better get behind workers and start supporting people because they're tired of seeing, you know, $10 billion, $20 billion buyback deals for corporate leaders and for Wall Street while the people that create those profits can't afford to live," he continued.
The Michigan results marked a sharp turn from the state's 2024 performance, when President Donald Trump won voters without college degrees by roughly 10 percentage points, according to exit polling. Democratic Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed's victory in the state was among the night's most prominent wins.
The movement of working-class voters, particularly White working-class voters, toward the Republican Party has been a defining feature of the Trump era. That shift drew national attention in 2024, when the Teamsters declined to endorse then-Vice President Kamala Harris amid polling that suggested rank-and-file union members were breaking for Trump.
Those trends have been especially visible in Rust Belt states such as Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. All three saw significant Republican defeats on election night, with Democrats posting major victories in Senate, gubernatorial and legislative contests.
Fain argued that an emphasis on kitchen-table concerns facing working families powered the party's commanding wins in Michigan and beyond. "I think it's just a testament to Michigan here as a microcosm of what's going on in this country right now. Working-class people have been left behind.. these are some of the best times in the history of our nation.. corporations are doing well, the rich are taking all the profits.. and people are struggling to be able to afford to pay the bills," he told Fox News Digital. "People come in, outside groups come in, they try to buy seats in Congress, they try to buy our electorate, and I think working-class people woke up to that and they're fed up with this."
For Fain, the party's focus on healthcare, living wages and retirement assistance explains the breadth of Tuesday's victories, and he suggested the same formula will decide future elections.
"Whatever party gets behind those things and supports those initiatives to take care of people, they'll be in power for a long time," Fain said.
