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Democratic Candidate Who Forced Paul Ryan Into Retirement Will Champion Green Infrastructure Plan & Help WFP Recruit Progressive Candidates Up and Down the Ballot
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following a campaign that animated progressive activists nationwide and helped drive Paul Ryan into early retirement, former WI-1 Congressional nominee, veteran, iron worker, and union organizer Randy Bryce will take on a new role as a senior adviser to the Working Families Party. Bryce will lead the WFP’s work to build support for a Green New Deal, help promote a 21st Century infrastructure in keeping with the Millions of Jobs Coalition principles, and recruit working people to run for office up and down the ballot in 2020.
“I’ve been fighting for working people all my life. I’m proud to partner with the Working Families Party to build a deep bench of progressive candidates, and fight to rebuild America’s crumbling roads, bridges, and schools while stopping climate change in its tracks,” said Bryce. “We’ve got the fight of our lives ahead of us, but I’m ready to get to work.”
Randy Bryce decided to take on Paul Ryan at the encouragement of the Working Families Party, and the WFP was one of the first major national organizations to endorse him in July 2017. Bryce became a national sensation by running on a powerful progressive platform that includes a $15 minimum wage, Medicare for All, and abolishing the U.S. Customs and Immigration Bureau (ICE). In April 2018, Ryan announced his retirement, which many in the media credited to Bryce’s spirited challenge.
“Randy has already proved that ordinary people can do remarkable things by participating in our democracy and fighting for change,” said Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell. “America needs more leaders like Randy Bryce, and we can’t think of anyone better to help spearhead our work to create good green jobs, stop climate change, and build a bench of working class candidates who will fight for the many, not the few.”
Today’s announcement comes at a pivotal moment in the fight for green jobs and infrastructure. Advocacy by Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and young people in the Sunrise Movement has put the Green New Deal at the center of a national conversation around investing in communities while fighting climate change. And U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently penned an op-ed in the Washington Post pledging no bipartisan action on infrastructure without an agreement from Republicans in Congress and the Trump Administration to fight climate change.
In the last year 157 Members of Congress have endorsed the principles of the Millions of Jobs coalition, which includes labor unions, advocacy groups, elected officials, and grassroots activists working for a comprehensive 21st century jobs and infrastructure plan.
The Working Families Party is a political organization that recruits, trains, and elects the next generation of progressive leaders to office. The WFP worked in hundreds of races in 2018, large and small, and elected a new generation of working class candidates and progressive activists to office in statehouses across America. It played a pivotal role in ending Republican control in the New York and Colorado state senates, and helped elect progressive champions like Jahana Hayes (D-Ct.), Antonio Delgado (D-NY) and Andy Kim (D-NJ).
