Everyone wants to win working-class voters. But have they realized many are women?

A report from The 19th traces how the definition of “working class” has quietly shifted from the blue-collar man in a hard hat to a workforce dominated by women in retail, service and care jobs, who now make up close to half or a clear majority of that group depending how it's measured. JoAnna Mendoza, a Marine Corps veteran and single mother running for Arizona's 6th District, is offered as an example: she tracks grocery prices, worries about childcare costs, and says she'd rather drop an f-bomb than a fifty-dollar word.

The piece notes Democrats held a 14-point edge with non-college voters twenty years ago and now trail by 6 points, with working-class voters favoring Trump by 14 points in 2024. It also notes Trump's second term has featured tariff-driven price increases rather than the promised economic relief, eroding his standing even among white working-class supporters. Polling cited suggests self-described working-class adults now expect progressive Democrats to best represent their interests, with moderate Republicans a distant second.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.