Progressive activists, labor unions, and lawmakers who have organized for months against Republican nominee Donald Trump emphasized the enormous stakes of Tuesday's election for abortion rights, healthcare, the future of Gaza, the climate, and democracy itself as Americans cast their ballots in what's likely to be one of the highest-turnout elections in modern U.S. history.
"Today, it's all on the line," Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said Tuesday morning, urging a vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. "We can make history and elect a president committed to making our lives easier and protecting our freedom and humanity. So vote for yourself, for your neighbor, and for our democracy."
"Vote for Kamala Harris like lives depend on it," Pressley added, "because they do."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has also endorsed Harris, similarly emphasized the election's potentially seismic impacts on major aspects of U.S. society, from reproductive freedom to the future of Social Security.
"The right to an abortion is on the ballot," Warren wrote on social media. "Healthcare is on the ballot. Social Security and Medicare are on the ballot. Our very democracy is on the ballot. Your vote doesn't just affect who becomes president—it affects every aspect of our lives. Please vote accordingly."
"All our work in this election has come down to one question, 'Which side are you on?'"
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, progressive organizations and labor unions such as the United Auto Workers and AFL-CIO phone-banked and knocked doors across the country in an effort to defeat Trump, a former president who has threatened to prosecute his political opponents, gut regulations for the benefit of planet-destroying fossil fuel companies, give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu free rein in the Middle East, allow states to implement the most draconian abortion bans, and deliver another round of tax cuts to the rich and large corporations.
The UAW said Tuesday that its members knocked on 250,000 doors in Michigan alone during the final stretch of the 2024 campaign in an effort to defeat the Republican nominee.
"When members hear directly from other members about what’s at stake, we break through and change minds," said UAW president Shawn Fain. "By engaging our members and highlighting the issues that matter—their paychecks, their families, and their futures—our union has been critical to defeating Trump and making sure working-class issues are at the forefront of this election."
"All our work in this election has come down to one question, 'Which side are you on?'" Fain added. "In this election, we made sure our members had the information they needed to cast their vote based on each candidate’s own words and action. For our union, the choice is clear: Harris stands with us and Trump is a scab."
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party (WFP), wrote in a memo released on the eve of Election Day that his group's members knocked on 1.6 million voters' doors across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, and other battleground states where Harris and Trump are polling neck-and-neck.
"Working people in this nation cannot afford another Trump presidency," Mitchell wrote, alluding to the Republican nominee's anti-worker policy record. "That's why the WFP ran the biggest national campaign we've ever built to defeat Trump and elect Harris, and we left everything on the field."
Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, said in an appearance on MSNBC Tuesday that he personally decided to vote for Harris despite his group's decision not to endorse her, pointing to the grave threat Trump poses to Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities.
"He has never espoused a pro-peace policy," Alawieh said of Trump during Tuesday's interview. "He has been a purveyor of militarized violence against our communities."
"We're under no illusion that there's a president who's going to come in and wave a magic wand and change the policy," added Alawieh, referring to U.S. military support for Israel. "I'm looking at what are the conditions that are going to exist for our anti-war movement after this. Donald Trump intends on making it a lot harder for us to advocate for Palestinian human rights and against war."
