Doctors in the House: Why Democratic Physicians Are Running for Congress in Record Numbers

San Francisco, California – The campaign slogan "Public Health Hero" emblazons the website of Richard Pan, a California paediatrician. He is part of a significant surge of public health professionals seeking seats in the United States Congress in the upcoming midterm elections. The American College of Gastroenterology projects that up to 25 physicians could be elected this cycle, marking a record and heralding "a new generation of physician-lawmakers." While many incumbent physician-lawmakers are Republicans, experts observe a marked increase in Democratic doctors and healthcare workers on the ballot, with some competing in the year's most high-profile races. Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, is in a tight contest for Michigan's open Senate seat. In South Carolina, paediatrician Annie Andrews has transformed a traditionally safe Republican Senate seat into a competitive battleground. Experts and advocacy groups attribute this growing trend of Democratic doctors entering politics, in part, to widespread frustration with Republican President Donald Trump. They suggest Democrats are channeling public anger over escalating healthcare costs and what they perceive as anti-scientific Trump-era policies. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and founder of Vax PAC, a group supporting candidates committed to responsible vaccine policies, stated, "Scientists themselves have woken up. We cannot just abandon the public forum to all of this misinformation, disinformation." Feigl-Ding views this increased political engagement not as partisan maneuvering but as an opportunity to champion sound healthcare policies, adding, "What public health is doing is immunising ourselves against politics."

An Increasingly Divisive Issue

While pocketbook issues consistently top voter priorities, healthcare remains a persistent concern. A Pew Research Center poll on October 8 ranked healthcare as the third most crucial election issue for Americans, following the economy and the future of US democracy. Democrats, in particular, were more inclined to consider healthcare a significant factor in their voting decisions, with 82 percent deeming it very important, compared to 53 percent of Republicans. According to Matt Motta, a policy expert at Boston University’s School of Public Health, the politicization of healthcare is not new but has become more divisive. "Health has always been political, but health hasn’t always been partisan," Motta told Al Jazeera. "Our health has become increasingly polarised along partisan lines." This partisan divide in health policy arguably began to solidify during the 1994 midterm elections, when Republicans, led by figures like Representative Newt Gingrich, framed President Bill Clinton's healthcare reform efforts as "socialism," ultimately flipping both chambers of Congress in what was dubbed the "Republican Revolution." A subsequent pivotal moment was the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 under Democratic President Barack Obama. Since then, healthcare has been a central theme in most midterms following a presidential election. For instance, Republicans campaigned against the ACA in the 2010 midterms, and in 2018, Democrats ran on opposing Trump's attempts to repeal it. In the 2022 midterms, COVID-19 pandemic restrictions provided Republicans with talking points against then-President Joe Biden's administration.

A Backlash to MAHA?

This election cycle, Trump is once again a focal point. Recent data from Reuters and Ipsos in late October indicated a slump in his approval rating to a low of 31 percent. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump appealed to voters skeptical of the American healthcare system, tapping into declining public confidence in doctors and public health researchers since the COVID-19 pandemic. He notably recruited vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his campaign, who rallied supporters under the slogan "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA), a play on Trump's "Make America Great Again." Trump promised to empower Kennedy on health matters if re-elected, even announcing him as his pick for health and human services secretary. Since the start of Trump's potential second term, Kennedy has advocated for reducing federal vaccine guidelines, diverging from scientific consensus, and has supported cuts to agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Concurrently, Trump spearheaded the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which enacted over $1 trillion in cuts to healthcare spending and allowed health insurance subsidies to expire, leading to increased premiums for millions. The new wave of Democratic doctor-candidates aims to "capitalise on how frustrated most people are with these decisions," according to Motta. In South Carolina, Andrews highlighted her state's measles outbreak, citing 997 reported cases between 2025 and 2026, as evidence of the failure of Trump's health policies. She wrote in a February column, "We are flirting with the return of an old killer, not because the science changed, not because the virus itself changed, but because our politics did." Andrews criticized the federal government for sidelining medical expertise and promoting conspiracy theories. In Michigan, El-Sayed pointed to a recent rise in cyclospora infections, a parasitic illness spread through produce, as a consequence of reduced federal food inspection capacity due to Trump's budget cuts. "If I were elected, I would be the first Democratic doctor elected to the US Senate in nearly 50 years,” El-Sayed stated in September. "If you're kind of tired of dodging lettuce in the United States of America, I think we all could agree we probably need a public health senator right about now."

'How Many Times in History?'

Currently, the majority of physicians in Congress are Republicans, including all four physicians previously elected to the Senate. However, these party dynamics may shift. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is stepping down, and Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas faces an uncertain re-election. Meanwhile, at least five Democratic newcomers with medical degrees are vying for seats in the 120th Congress. Additionally, at least 10 Democratic nurses are running for Congress, compared to four Republicans, according to Nurse.org. Not all healthcare professionals on the ballot share identical views on healthcare policy. Andrews expressed that "Medicare for All" is an "outdated, non-pragmatic policy," while El-Sayed is a strong proponent, having co-authored a book on the subject. Affordability remains a key issue, given the U.S. has one of the world's most expensive healthcare systems. Andrews' political platform is the "Patients and Prices Platform," and she has toured the state on a related initiative. U.S. Representative Ami Bera, a California Democrat and physician, believes the nation is at a critical juncture for its healthcare system's future. Bera, running for re-election, emphasizes that doctors and patients, rather than just costs, should be central to healthcare discussions. "Let’s not talk about reimbursement. Let’s talk about why we went to medical school — we want to care for our patient,” Bera said. "Doctors who have practised, have been in the exam room, in the OR [operating room] have a unique perspective on patient care. They bring that unique perspective to Congress.” Bera co-founded the Democratic Doctors PAC this year to elevate healthcare as an election-season cause. Other health-focused groups have also invested significant resources, with the pro-science advocacy group 314 Action reporting nearly $30 million spent on this year's midterms. Bera remains optimistic that healthcare will transcend partisan divides. "Up until this moment in time, that is what the conversation's been, right? Democrats defending the Affordable Care Act, Republicans attacking the ACA,” Bera noted. "I think it's such a crisis moment that it's opened up the opportunity to think about the ‘what next’?” Feigl-Ding also sees this midterm election as a moment of opportunity, citing the Democratic primary victory of Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, who is now running for governor. Acton leads her Republican opponent by 7 percentage points, according to a recent Marist University poll. Feigl-Ding described this potential outcome as historic, asking, "If you think about it, how many times in history does a health director run for governor and win the primary, and is now slated to potentially win the governor’s race?”