Class Dealignment,Multiracial Workers,and Labor's Future After Trump's Reelection

Abstract

One reason explaining Kamala Harris' loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election is the swing of multi-cultural (non-white) voters to Trump. Joseph Biden possessed a lead of 46% among these voters over Trump in the 2020 US presidential election which declined to 30% for Harris in 2024. Moreover, this multicultural worker voting shift in the 2024 US presidential election is indicative of a longer-term trend labeled class dealignment, in which fewer workers vote for the Democratic Party, the major party best representing their economic interests, in favor of the Republican Party. To combat class dealignment, Democratic Party candidates must emphasize a robust economic populist message. When used, such an approach resulted in Democratic US congressional candidate victories in the 2022 and 2024 elections. Finally, the Democratic Party must also advance a twenty-first century economic agenda that appeals to white and multi-racial working class voters as a class as the New Deal and Great Society programs did in past decades.