AFL-CIO Says 639 Union Members Won Midterm Elections

The AFL-CIO said Wednesday that those elected included Democrats Troy Jackson in Maine, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Gina Hinojosa and James Talarico in Texas, Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania, Brian Poindexter in Ohio, Randy Villegas in California, Donavan Mitchell in Illinois and Sam Forstag in Montana. Hundreds more won state legislative and local offices.

The federation said it reached more than 16 million union voters. Union members made up 15% of the electorate, compared with 11% in 2024. The Democratic advantage among union households was also wider than two years earlier, when Democrats led Republicans by nine percentage points, according to the AFL-CIO.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler credited workers with helping produce the result. “This blue wave was union-made. The billionaires had the money in this election, but working people had the power,” she said. Shuler said workers wanted elected officials to raise wages, reduce costs, expand access to healthcare and unions, hold billionaire CEOs accountable and check what she described as attacks on freedoms by the Trump administration.

April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, said Democrats must now deliver on their promises. She called for lower costs, affordable care, protection for immigrant families and easier access to union membership, adding that SEIU members would hold elected leaders accountable. The source attributed union-household concerns to attacks on organized labor and living costs it said were amplified by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran.