By David Sole, May 25, 2026 – https://fighting-words.net/
The often-bitter conflict between Republicans and Democrats in the US electoral arena sometimes can hide the fact that both parties are controlled by the capitalist billionaire class. Occasionally, however, this fundamental truth is glaringly exposed.
On November 4, 2025, Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, won election to be governor of the state of Virginia. This was widely hailed, along with a Democrat winning in the New Jersy governor’s race, as proof that many people were turning away from the Trump dominated ultra-right program of the Republicans. The Dems also have a majority in both houses of Virginia’s state government. This was seen as a sign that the Democrats could defeat the MAGA movement in the 2026 and 2028 elections.
To deepen and strengthen the Democrats’ hold in Virginia would appear to be a sure thing. One measure that was sure to build working class support was the passage of HB 1263 / SB 378 earlier this year. This legislation removed the ban on collective bargaining for public workers in the state. It would have affected over 500,000 public service workers. Unions had strongly backed Spanberger in her successful bid to oust the Republicans.
Governor Spanberger first tried to water down this legislation – asking that its implementation be put off until 2030. When the legislators refused to accept her changes, Spanberger vetoed the bill on May 14.
The Virginia AFL-CIO responded immediately with anger. The union federation wrote: “This veto is a devastating betrayal to the hundreds of thousands of public employees who have spent years, and in many decades, fighting for a seat at the table. Teachers, Firefighters, Home care workers, State employees. Public servants who are the pillars our communities and who keep Virginia running…only to be told yet again that their voices do not matter.”
The press release included a clear warning to the Democratic Party as a whole: “the Governor’s veto of this bill will truly create an existential crisis for the party’s brand both nationally and in Virginia.”
What could have possessed this new Democratic governor to take this reactionary position? Surely the collective bargaining measure had strong grass roots support – so much so that a majority of both state representatives and state senators felt they could vote in favor of it.
It would be a mistake to attribute her veto to personal philosophy or weakness. She is an astute politician with a background in the Central Intelligence Agency. It isn’t rocket science to realize that angering half a million state workers can only weaken her party in the future.
Therefore, it can be assumed that this anti-union veto was under orders from the Democratic National Committee – the top leaders of the party, often called the “Corporate Democrats.” Despite portraying itself as the party or workers and oppressed minorities, the Democratic Party levers of power are firmly in the hands of the capitalist billionaire class. That class could not allow Virginia to go union, perhaps setting off a national stampede toward unionization after decades of shrinkage of union representation in the private as well as the public sector.
This goal is more important to the billionaires than maintaining the fiction that the Democratic Party is the party for workers. This is only the latest hard lesson for workers and oppressed peoples about the party many of them call their own. As these lessons sink in, a poor and working people’s party may finally emerge that will be truly independent of the capitalist class.
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