The Worker Power PAC is a Democratic Party-aligned Super PAC founded in 2020 as the Working Arizona PAC that expanded to conduct activity in other competitive states in 2022 after changing its name. The PAC is closely aligned with organized labor and has received money from labor unions and other left-of-center advocacy groups including Unite HERE Local 11, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers, and the Arizona AFL-CIO.

The PAC has conducted campaign activities in support of Democratic candidates in Arizona and Georgia as well on behalf of the presidential campaign of Joe Biden during the 2020 election. The group also created a separate PAC to funnel funds to support congressional and U.S. Senate Candidates in Georgia in 2020 and 2022 called the Worker Power PAC for Georgia. ¹

Background

The Worker Power Pac was founded in 2020 as the Working Arizona PAC. The PAC is organized as an unaffiliated “super PAC” that is allowed to spend unlimited amounts of funds in support of candidates via independent expenditures. The PAC describes itself as “dedicated to delivering wins for progressive political candidates.” In 2020, the PAC focused its spending on Arizona-specific state and federal elections. In 2022, the PAC “conducted a massive independent expenditure field canvass that provided the margin of victory for numerous progressive candidates and delivered a decisive blow to a slate of extreme right-wing candidates at every ballot level.” ²

Candidates that the organization deployed paid canvassers to support in 2022 included those of Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D), Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D), and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D). ³

Affiliated Organizations

The Worker Power PAC is closely affiliated with Unite Here Local 11, an Arizona-based local chapter of the national left-of-center hotel and hospitality employees PAC Unite Here. A 2022 article explaining the impacts that Latino voters were expected to have on 2022 elections in Arizona described Worker Power as the “affiliated political group” of Unite Here Local 11 and quoted Brendan Walsh as the co-political director of both Unite Here Local 11 and the Worker Power PAC. ⁴

Another report by a local news source financially supported by Unite Here Local 11 stated that “Worker Power — which focuses on young voters, people of color and swing voters — knocked on 800,000 doors in 2020 and contributed to President Biden’s narrow margin of victory by fewer than 11,000 votes in the state.” ⁵

Georgia

In 2022, the Worker Power PAC formed a separate but connected entity called the Worker Power PAC for Georgia which focused on funding similar canvassing efforts for Democratic candidates in Georgia, particularly U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D). ⁶

Donors

Organizations that have funded the Worker Power PAC include CASE Action Fund, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers, the Arizona AFL-CIO, Green Advocacy Fund, Worker Power for Bass for Mayor, Citizens for a Sustainable Laguna Beach, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Hess Trust, United Food and Commercial Workers, and the Youth Progressive Action Catalyst. ⁷

1. “Worker Power PAC: Independent Expenditures 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/worker-power-pac/C00756569/expenditures/2022
2. “Worker Power PAC.” Worker Power. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://www.workerpower.com/wpp.
3. “Worker Power PAC.” Worker Power. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://www.workerpower.com/wpp
4. Goodheart, Jessica.  “Arizona Could Prove Pivotal in Attempts to Subvert the Next Presidential Election” Capital & Main. November 7, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-immigration-race-and-ethnicity-d209e0e98cdfb9507b16ff37f2e87697
5. Goodheart, Jessica.  “Arizona Could Prove Pivotal in Attempts to Subvert the Next Presidential Election” Capital & Main. November 7, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-immigration-race-and-ethnicity-d209e0e98cdfb9507b16ff37f2e87697
6. “Worker Power PAC for Georgia” Open Secrets. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2022&vendor=Worker+Power+Pac+for+Georgia
7. ^[1]   “Worker Power PAC: Donors 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/worker-power-pac/C00756569/donors/2022