UAW Endorsements: Michigan, California, and New York

In the 2026 election cycle, the United Auto Workers have endorsed Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for governor, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald for Michigan attorney general, and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter for governor of California, alongside a slate of congressional, state legislative, and downballot candidates in New York City and California. The picks were made under President Shawn Fain’s “earned, not given” standard, and they run through the union’s member-elected Community Action Program board rather than a top-down decision by the union president.¹

Michigan Governor and U.S. Senate

On June 5, 2026, the UAW announced endorsements in Michigan’s two marquee statewide primaries ahead of the August 4 Democratic vote. For governor, the union backed Benson, describing her as a leader unafraid to stand up against “the most powerful billionaires in the name of working-class Michiganders.” Benson was already the de facto frontrunner in polling and fundraising. Her primary opponent, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, had campaigned on his own union credentials but was polling at roughly six percent, according to political consultant Andrea Bitely.² Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan had exited the race in May, citing fundraising concerns.³

For U.S. Senate, the union endorsed El-Sayed, a former public health official and former gubernatorial candidate. The UAW cited his “moral clarity,” his refusal to accept corporate PAC money, and his support for Medicare for All and a ban on stock buybacks.¹ El-Sayed was running in a three-way Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak. Bridge Michigan called the UAW the “most influential union” to weigh in on the race, and the endorsement drew immediate fire from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Leadership Fund, and the Michigan Republican Party, which branded El-Sayed the new frontrunner and targeted what they called his “radical agenda.” The winner of the Democratic primary is set to face Republican Mike Rogers, who is unopposed in the GOP primary.⁴

Sterling Heights City Council member Mike Radtke said the bundling of the two endorsements was designed to “unite both of them into a shared future for the party.”²⁵⁴

The Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest employee union with more than 140,000 members, declined in late June to endorse in the Senate primary, saying all three candidates were “well qualified” and “steadfast supporters of our issues.”⁶ With the MEA neutral, the UAW’s pick stood as the most consequential labor endorsement in the race.

Michigan Attorney General

The June endorsements followed the union’s earlier statewide pick. On January 26, 2026, the UAW endorsed Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald for Michigan attorney general, calling her a “first line of defense for working-class Michiganders” against what it characterized as federal attacks on worker rights. The union pointed to her working-class upbringing and her background as a former union member, teacher, attorney, and judge. McDonald is known for securing convictions in the aftermath of the Oxford High School shooting.⁷⁸

California: Porter and the Region 6 Slate

UAW Region 6 became the first major union to endorse former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter for governor of California. Region 6 represents more than 100,000 workers in the state across sectors including automaking, higher education, and state government. The endorsement was anchored in Porter’s positions on union manufacturing jobs, the gender pay gap in civil service, and protection of higher education and research.⁹

Region 6 also issued endorsements in races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, controller, treasurer, secretary of state, insurance commissioner, and dozens of legislative contests.¹⁰

New York City Primary Results

In the June 23, 2026, New York City primaries, several UAW-backed candidates won their nominations. Assembly member Claire Valdez, a member of UAW Local 2110, won the Democratic congressional nomination in New York’s 7th District by a 21-point margin. Darializa Avila Chevalier, a member of UAW Local 2325, won the nomination in the 13th District, defeating an incumbent by roughly 2,000 votes. All five UAW-endorsed state Senate candidates won, along with 13 of 15 endorsed state Assembly candidates. The union said more than 500 members canvassed, phone-banked, and rallied across the city, reaching over 50,000 voters, and UAW Region 9A described the results as evidence that the union had become New York City’s “unlikeliest kingmaker.”¹¹

How a UAW Endorsement Gets Made

UAW endorsements are not decided by the president. They run through the union’s Community Action Program board, made up of representatives from every UAW-represented plant and facility in the state. The CAP board holds meetings with candidates and hosts public, live-streamed debates so rank-and-file members can evaluate them. UAW Region 1A Director Mark DePaoli said the board asks “tough questions” and that it is difficult to endorse a candidate who does not attend the forums.³

An endorsement requires a two-thirds majority of the CAP board, with every vote weighted equally regardless of whether the member is a plant-level representative, a regional director, or the UAW president. No Republican candidates for Michigan governor attended the union’s endorsement forum. DePaoli said members viewed El-Sayed as the “clear-cut winner” of the live-streamed Senate debate and singled out his expertise on healthcare. On the governor’s race, the board concluded it was “comfortable that Jocelyn Benson was the correct decision.”³

The “Earned, Not Given” Standard

The UAW’s endorsement approach shifted after Shawn Fain won the union presidency in March 2023. Fain has framed the shift around a simple principle: endorsements must be “earned, not given.” Rather than backing candidates early out of tradition or party loyalty, the union evaluates them on wages, retirement security, healthcare, and organizing rights.¹²

That approach played out publicly in 2024. The UAW held off on endorsing President Joe Biden for months after other major unions had backed him, pressing the administration on electric vehicle policy, retirement security, and organizing. The endorsement came on January 24, 2024, at the union’s national CAP conference, where Fain said Biden had earned it by joining a picket line during the 2023 Stand Up Strike.¹³ When Biden withdrew, the UAW executive board voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris on July 31, 2024, citing her record and her walking a picket line with striking auto workers in 2019.¹⁴

The Harris endorsement did not produce the outcome the union wanted. The Detroit News characterized the backing as having failed to “move the needle,” and the UAW’s internal October 2024 polling showed contacted members supported Harris by 29 points over Trump, while the overall membership margin was smaller. The union acknowledged that white members without college degrees remained a demographic challenge.¹⁵¹⁶

The 2026 endorsements also fit a longer union project. At the 39th Constitutional Convention in Detroit in June 2026, delegates voted to commit to building for “May Day 2028,” an effort to align contract expirations across unions on May 1, 2028, and to “strengthen our political voice.” The UAW has said it needs allies in Lansing and Washington who will support workers during the contract fights ahead.¹⁷

The Money and the Ground Game

UAW-V-CAP, the union’s political action committee, reported $17.2 million in cash on hand as of March 31, 2026, after raising $8.4 million since January 2025.¹⁸ In the 2023–2024 cycle, the PAC raised $15.3 million and spent $14.1 million, directing 99 percent of its candidate contributions to Democrats.¹⁹ When affiliated spending is included, the UAW and related entities contributed $6.2 million in the 2024 cycle, with the largest single recipient being the Senate Majority PAC at $1.7 million.²⁰

The union’s ground operation is often its more valuable asset in a primary. In the 2024 presidential race, the UAW engaged 293,000 active and retired members and their families across seven battleground states, reaching more than 200,000 union households in Michigan alone through door-to-door canvassing. The union has pointed to 2020 data showing UAW membership accounted for 9.2 percent of the Biden-Harris vote total in Michigan and 84 percent of the ticket’s margin of victory in the state.¹⁶

What Could Change the Strategy

Fain is seeking a second four-year term in a contested UAW election set for fall 2026, with ballots mailed in late August and due by October 5. He faces five challengers: Rich Boyer, the current vice president who split from Fain’s slate; Tricia Geiger, an international servicing representative who has pledged to change how the union’s political arm supports candidates; Brian Keller, a Stellantis worker focused on reforms recommended by the federal monitor; Will Lehman, a Mack Trucks worker; and Greg Mooney.²¹¹⁵

The election is only the second in which UAW members directly vote for their leadership, a system established through a 2021 referendum required by a federal consent decree. Geiger’s pledge to rethink political strategy, alongside internal criticism that the Harris endorsement did not translate into results, has made the union’s political direction an active point of debate. Fain is running on the 25 percent wage increases won during 2023 contract negotiations and the successful organizing of a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.²² How that vote lands will shape whether the “earned, not given” model continues in its current form after 2026.

1
UAW. UAW Endorses Secretary Jocelyn Benson and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Critical Michigan Races
2
Michigan Advance. UAW Endorsement of Benson, El-Sayed Shakes Up Gubernatorial, U.S. Senate Races in Final Stretch
3
WDET. Anatomy of an Endorsement: Why the UAW Chose El-Sayed, Benson
4
Bridge Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed Wins Key UAW Endorsement in Tight U.S. Senate Race
5
Michigan Public. UAW Backs El-Sayed Over Other Democrats Running for U.S. Senate
6
WTVB AM. Michigan Education Association Not Making Endorsement in U.S. Senate Primary
7
UAW. UAW Announces Major Michigan Candidate Endorsements for 2026
8
McDonald for AG. Karen McDonald for Attorney General
9
UAW Region 6. UAW Becomes First Major Union to Endorse Katie Porter for Governor of California
10
UAW Region 6. UAW Region 6 California Endorsements
11
UAW Region 9A. NYC Elections 2026
12
UAW. UAW Endorses Joe Biden for President of the United States
13
Politico. Biden Gets UAW Endorsement After Noticeable Delay
14
Reuters. United Auto Workers Union Endorses Harris Bid for President
15
Detroit News. UAW IEB Executive Board Candidate Nominations
16
UAW. UAW Poll Shows Member Support for Harris Growing Significantly in Battleground States
17
UAW. Delegates Chart UAW’s Path Forward on Day Two of Constitutional Convention
18
Federal Election Commission. UAW-V-CAP Committee Page
19
OpenSecrets. United Auto Workers PAC Summary 2024
20
OpenSecrets. United Auto Workers Organization Summary
21
Detroit Free Press. UAW Nominations Executive Board Elections
22
Reuters. United Auto Workers Fain Seeks Reelection Buoyed by Strike Wins