Working class citizens make up a large portion of the United States population therefore have an impactful influence on the election. When presidential candidates campaign it is important for them to target states with high working class.
Working class citizens, a group that is often defined as not having college degrees, represent 54% of the United States, which shows that the majority of votes are coming from the working class, which was evident in the previous election. The General president of the Laborers International Union of North America, Brent Booker, stated that the Democratic Party needs reconstructing.
“I don’t think the party has fully embraced, and hasn’t for decades, really, working class people,” said Brent Brooker.
Based on statistics from the Bureau of Labor statistics, Democrats and Republicans rely on Blue collar workers for the voter turnout. When it comes to political views, working class citizens tend to swing left. This has been a repeating trend since Obama’s presidency. And Biden, the most recent Democratic president, had pledged to be “the most pro-union president in history.”
However, patterns during the 2024 election didn’t follow this trend. In 2020 the voter turnout shows that Biden only earned 16% of voters with no college degree while Trump earned 84%. These tendencies were repeated in the 2024 election. Harris only earned 13% of non college degree votes while Trump earned 86%. This is significant because 62% of US citizens do not have college degrees, according to a study by the Wall Street Journal.
The main concern for Blue Collar workers is pay. Trump’s 2017 tax cut has made it possible for those whose incomes are in the top 1% and 5% to have had a tax cut of roughly $60,000. Those whose incomes are in the bottom 60% have only had a tax cut of $500.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted in 2018 that the cut would cost $1.9 Trillion in the next 10 years. Beginning in 2027 it will cost another $400 billion.
In order for either class to pull more working class voters each party’s candidate would need to acknowledge the working class more, and put more energy into funding programs throughout schools to help those seeking working class careers. They also need to prioritize ways to benefit those already in the working class facing increasing expenses. This could appear as tax cuts or increased loan and scholarship opportunities for those seeking further education.
With the 2026 midterm elections coming soon, politicians need to focus their campaigns on working class needs. History suggests that the democratic party typically gains more seats in the House then the republican party during midterms. It will be interesting to see if these trends change given the changing political landscape.
