UAW’s Shawn Fain: The 2026 election results were a case of the ‘many versus the mighty’

DETROIT — The political outreach efforts of Michigan’s labor movement played a significant role in the 2026 elections as Democrats helped elect candidates who put the plight of working people first in their campaign messages and policy planks, said UAW President Shawn Fain on Tuesday evening.

In an interview with Michigan Advance, the leader of one of the nation’s largest unions said the gains made in the Nov. 3 election — which saw several of the movement’s endorsed candidates sail to victory — were a testament to the on-the-ground efforts of labor over the past year, including its get out the vote effort within UAW’s own ranks.

“We mobilized our membership. We have 350,000 members here in Michigan, and over 200,000 voted early,” Fain told the Advance while he was watching election night returns at the Michigan Democratic Party victory event in downtown Detroit. “Our members have been out with 500,000 phone calls, 100,000 doors knocked on. We’ve seen double digit percentages of support. What that means for me, and working class Michiganders, is that we’re going to have people who stand behind working class people who are struggling to afford to live right now.”

Fain said the election, and its efforts in 2026, was a true case of “the many versus the mighty.”

“You had a lot of rich people who tried to inject a ton of money, outside groups who came to Michigan, to buy a seat, to buy these races,” Fain added. “Michiganders are smarter than that and they’re telling these people they’re not for sale.”

Many of the UAW’s endorsed Michigan candidates won on Tuesday, including Governor-elect Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State-elect Garlin Gilchrist, U.S. Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, Attorney General-elect Eli Savit, and Michigan Supreme Court Justices Meghan Cavanagh and Noah Hood. The UAW had also endorsed Christina Hines, Sean McCann and Will Lawrence — all of whom were elected to congressional seats.

Fain said those gains have the potential to change or improve labor laws, as well as policies that address affordability, both here in Michigan and nationally. The focus on working people from several candidates, particularly from the El-Sayed campaign, showed Fain that the union had done what was necessary to elevate working class needs and issues to the very top of Democratic politics.

“We’ve served notice,” he said. “We’re done getting behind candidates just because of a party label. The days of just endorsing people are over. They’ve got to do the work, and we have expectations. We expect that they are going to be there for working class people. We laid that standard down back in 2023, and we’ve really focused our efforts here in 2026 to mobilize our membership and mobilize our people like we’ve never done in my lifetime, and you’re seeing the results of that tonight.”

Now that Democrats control the whole of Michigan government, and also control both chambers of Congress, Fain said he wants them to focus on adequate wages, healthcare and retirement security. Any efforts to create an economic environment where people who are already working 12 hours a day, seven days a week and don’t have to work two or three jobs would also go a long way, he said.

“That’s not a life. Working class people deserve better,” Fain said. “We expect the Democratic Party to get back to their roots. Some of those Democrats forgot about that over the years. … Working class people are sending a message tonight that they are fed up with struggling to afford to live. If these candidates can get behind those issues, they’re going to be there for a long time. If they don’t, no matter which party they belong to, they’ll be out of the way the next round.”