LOS ANGELES — The mood was victorious and festive. And the proof was in the animated conversations and smiling faces. Working Families Party (WFP) held their Los Angeles region end-of-year holiday celebration party just west of downtown Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 13.
Friday the 13th, a supposedly bad luck day, was nothing of the kind for the energy-filled room, whose crowd showed signs of being ready to continue to grow and fight for the needs of working people across our country. Many drove from far away, including electeds who wished to celebrate and thank hard-working campaigners. Three WFP-supported candidates elected in November were present and spoke and mingled with WFP rank-and-file members. Also present was the WFP staff.
Jane Kim, California Director for the WFP organization, willingly spoke with this writer, who serves as the Southern California Chairperson of the National Writers Union which represents freelancers in media (NWU.org). She said WFP is now in their third year as a statewide chartered organization. Their goal is to organize and secure governing power in California for everyday working Californians. Los Angeles is one of their six regions in the state. The Central Valley, Central Coast, Bay Area, Orange County, Inland Empire, and San Diego are the other five. She noted that gathering in person to build community is so important to meet like-minded folks and needs to happen more.
WFP started in New York and now has 10 more formal state charters; Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, California, and Oregon.
Also present was Konstantine Anthony, who won a seat on the Burbank City Council. He noted that although WFP was originally an East Coast organizing project it is now having amazing successes in California, first in the Bay area and now in Southern California. They not only endorse candidates but their members actually get out and do the work of campaigns for their endorsed candidates. Other organized groups, he said, may endorse you and lend their name and even some money, all of which helps, but WFP members roll up their sleeves and do the work. As an example, Mr. Anthony had the largest number ever of votes for a Burbank City Council seat in 2020, and because of organizations like WFP, he increased his number and broke his own record in 2024 even if there were 18,000 fewer votes in Burbank this year. He was enjoying the celebration because it allowed him to meet WFP members in person, and learn from them and other candidates by sharing their successes and failures.
City Council member-elect Jessie Lopez, Santa Ana, District 3, was also there and remarked on the historic importance of being elected in a city that has historically been represented by Republicans even as it also had a very large Mexican-American population. She said that she planned to work with the community to have the City Council address the needs of her constituents.
Sasha Renée Pérez, who won a State Senate seat in District 25 in Northern California, was also present and very appreciative and thankful for the work put in by WFP to get her elected. She too remarked on the importance of a WFP-endorsed victory at the state level as a marker of the growing strength of the party.
The WFP may endorse a candidate who is not a member of their party if the candidate backs the policy needs of WFP constituents: National Health Care, affordable housing, free schooling, union jobs, child care, and other social benefits they believe can be obtained in our country and are indices of an America that puts the needs of all above bosses and the moneyed, super-powerful corporations. WFP is a multiracial party of regular people that fights for workers over bosses. They want an America which realizes the promise of freedom and equality, neither of which has been realized by all Americans.
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