A cure for Trump? Why Democratic doctors are running in the 2026 midterms

A new generation of physicians-turned-politicians are running for office in the hope of combatting anti-science policies under Donald Trump.

Richard Pan, a Democratic candidate competing for California's 6th congressional district, has highlighted his medical background in his campaign [Dr Richard Pan for Congress via AP Photo] Richard Pan, a Democratic candidate competing for California's 6th congressional district, has highlighted his medical background in his campaign [Dr Richard Pan for Congress via AP Photo]

San Francisco, California – Three words stretch across the front page of Richard Pan’s campaign website: “Public Health Hero”.

The California paediatrician is part of a wave of public health professionals angling for a seat in the United States Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections.

The American College of Gastroenterology has estimated that as many as 25 physicians could win congressional office this election cycle, a record number that would usher in "a new generation of physician-lawmakers".

But while many of the incumbents are Republicans, experts say there has been a notable rise in the number of Democratic doctors and healthcare workers on the ballot.

Some are competing in the highest-profile races of the year. Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, is locked in a close race for Michigan's open Senate seat.

In South Carolina, meanwhile, paediatrician Annie Andrews has turned what would normally be a safe Senate seat for Republicans into a battleground.

Experts and advocacy groups credit the growing number of Democratic doctors-turned-politicians, in part, to frustration with Republican President Donald Trump.

Democrats, they say, are tapping into public rage not only over rising healthcare costs but also Trump-era policies they see as anti-scientific.

“Scientists themselves have woken up. We cannot just abandon the public forum to all of this misinformation, disinformation,” said Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist who founded Vax PAC, a political advocacy group that backs candidates who support responsible vaccine policies.

Feigl-Ding sees the surge in political participation not as an act of partisanship but rather as a chance to advocate for responsible healthcare policies.

“It's not like public health is rolling up our sleeves and getting dirty in the pigsty,” Feigl-Ding said. “What public health is doing is immunising ourselves against politics.”

Supporters hold signs promoting 'Medicare for All' during an October 30 rally for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo] Supporters hold signs promoting 'Medicare for All' during an October 30 rally for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo]

An increasingly divisive issue

While the pocketbook issues consistently rank as the top priority for American voters, healthcare remains a prevailing concern.

A Pew Research Center poll on October 8 identified healthcare as the third most important election issue for Americans, behind the economy and the future of US democracy.

Democrats, in particular, were more likely to rank healthcare high among the factors swaying their votes. Eighty-two percent said it was a very important issue, compared with 53 percent for Republicans.

The politicisation of healthcare isn’t new, but it has evolved, according to Matt Motta, a policy expert at Boston University’s School of Public Health. He describes the issue as more divisive than it has been in the past.

“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."

One of the early instances of that fracture came in the 1994 midterm election cycle. In the year leading up to the race, the administration of Democratic President Bill Clinton had pushed Congress for healthcare reform.

But Republicans like Representative Newt Gingrich framed that effort as "socialism". The right-wing party ultimately flipped both chambers of Congress that year, in a midterm race dubbed the "Republican Revolution".

Another major milestone was the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, under Democratic leader Barack Obama.

Ever since, healthcare has played a defining role in nearly every midterm following the election of a new president, according to Motta.

During the 2010 midterms, for instance, Republicans ran in opposition to the newly passed Affordable Care Act. Then, in the 2018 midterms, after Trump's first election, Democrats campaigned against his efforts to roll the Affordable Care Act back.

Later, in the 2022 race, restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic gave Republicans fuel to attack a new Democratic leader, then-President Joe Biden.

Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews speaks to voters in Columbia, South Carolina, on October 29 [Sam Wolfe/AP Photo] Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews speaks to voters in Columbia, South Carolina, on October 29 [Sam Wolfe/AP Photo]

This time around, however, Trump is back in the midterm crosshairs. The news agency Reuters and the research firm Ipsos found in late October that his approval rating has slumped to a record low of 31 percent.

As a candidate for the presidency in 2024, Trump had courted voters sceptical of the American healthcare system.

Confidence in doctors and public health researchers had been on the decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump tapped into that trend by recruiting vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr to join his campaign.

Kennedy rallied supporters under the banner "Make America Healthy Again" or "MAHA" — a variation on Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

In turn, Trump promised to let Kennedy "go wild on health" if he were returned to office. Shortly after his re-election, Trump announced Kennedy as his pick for health and human services secretary.

Since the start of Trump's second term, Kennedy has pushed to minimise federal vaccine guidelines, bucking scientific consensus.

He has also championed cuts to agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Trump, meanwhile, rallied Republicans to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, which resulted in more than $1 trillion in cuts to healthcare spending.

As part of that bill, Republicans allowed health insurance subsidies to expire, resulting in higher premiums for millions of Americans.

The new crop of Democratic doctors-turned-candidates is “trying to capitalise on how frustrated most people are with these decisions", Motta said.

In South Carolina, for instance, Andrews — the paediatrician turned Democratic Senate contender — has pointed to her state's measles outbreak as evidence of the failure of Trump's health policies.

An estimated 997 cases were reported in the state between 2025 and 2026.

"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 wrote in a February column about the outbreak.

"At the highest levels of our federal government, we have watched medical expertise get shoved aside while conspiracy theories get promoted."

In Michigan, meanwhile, El-Sayed touted his health credentials by pointing to a recent uptick in cyclospora, a diarrhoea-inducing parasite that can be spread through fresh produce, such as lettuce.

"If I were elected, I would be the first Democratic doctor elected to the US Senate in nearly 50 years,” El-Sayed said at a campaign stop 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."

He and other Democrats have blamed the parasite's spread on the federal government’s reduced capacity to inspect food, as a result of Trump's budget cuts.

US Representative Ami Bera speaks at a conference about Covered California, the state's insurance market place, on October 29, 2024 [Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo] US Representative Ami Bera speaks at a conference about Covered California, the state's insurance market place, on October 29, 2024 [Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo]

'How many times in history?'

Currently, the majority of the doctors serving in Congress are Republicans, including all four physicians previously elected to the Senate.

But those party dynamics may shift. One high-profile Republican doctor, Senator Bill Cassidy, is stepping down. Others, such as Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, are facing uncertain odds for re-election.

Meanwhile, at least five Democratic newcomers with medical degrees are aiming to join the 120th Congress after November's midterm election.

At least 10 Democratic nurses are making a bid for Congress this year too, compared to four Republicans, according to the publication Nurse.org.

Not every healthcare professional on November's ballot shares the same view on healthcare policy, though.

In South Carolina, Andrews told NewsNation that "Medicare for All" — a proposal for universal public healthcare — is an "outdated, non-pragmatic policy".

El-Sayed, by contrast, is a strong proponent of the policy, having co-written a book called Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide.

The US has one of the costliest healthcare systems of any high-income country in the world, and affordability has been a common feature in many of the Democratic doctors' campaigns.

Andrews, for instance, has dubbed her political agenda the "Patients and Prices Platform", and she travelled around her state on a similarly named tour.

US Representative Ami Bera, a California Democrat who is also a doctor, told Al Jazeera that the country is at a key juncture to decide the future of its healthcare system.

Bera is running for re-election in the midterms, in part based on the belief that doctors and patients should be at the centre of that discussion, as opposed to mere costs.

"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 helped form the Democratic Doctors PAC this year to help boost healthcare as an election-season cause.

Other health-inspired groups have likewise poured money and resources into the race. The pro-science advocacy group 314 Action reported in October that it had spent nearly $30m on this year's midterms.

But Bera expressed optimism that healthcare would ultimately not be seen as a single-party issue or a source of partisan divide.

“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 said. “I think it's such a crisis moment that it's opened up the opportunity to think about the ‘what next'?”

Feigl-Ding, the founder of Vax PAC, also believes this midterm election cycle is a moment of opportunity.

He pointed to the recent Democratic primary victory for Amy Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health, now running to be the state's governor.

Acton is leading her Republican opponent going into Tuesday's vote by 7 percentage points, according to a recent Marist University poll. Feigl-Ding described that result as historic.

“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?” Feigl-Ding asked.

新一代由医生转型而来的政治家正在竞选公职，希望能够对抗唐纳德·特朗普的反科学政策。

民主党候选人理查德·潘（Richard Pan）正在竞选加州第六选区国会众议员，他在竞选活动中重点强调了自己的医学背景。[理查德·潘博士竞选国会众议员，图片来自美联社]

加利福尼亚州旧金山——理查德·潘的竞选网站首页赫然写着三个字：“公共卫生英雄”。

这位加州儿科医生是众多公共卫生专业人士中的一员，他们都在争取参加周二的中期选举，进入美国国会。

美国胃肠病学会估计，本届选举周期可能有多达 25 名医生赢得国会席位，这一创纪录的数字将开启“新一代医生立法者”的时代。

虽然许多现任官员是共和党人，但专家表示，民主党医生和医护人员参选的人数显著增加。

有些人正在参加今年最受瞩目的竞选。医生兼前公共卫生官员阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德正在激烈角逐密歇根州空缺的参议院席位。

与此同时，在南卡罗来纳州，儿科医生安妮·安德鲁斯将原本共和党稳操胜券的参议院席位变成了竞争激烈的战场。

专家和倡导团体认为，越来越多的民主党医生转行从政，部分原因是他们对共和党总统唐纳德·特朗普感到失望。

他们说，民主党人正在利用公众对不断上涨的医疗保健成本以及他们认为反科学的特朗普时代政策的愤怒情绪。

“科学家们自己也已经觉醒了。我们不能任由公共论坛充斥着这些错误信息和虚假信息，”流行病学家埃里克·费格尔-丁说道。他创立了Vax PAC，这是一个支持负责任的疫苗政策候选人的政治倡导组织。

费格尔-丁认为，政治参与的激增并非出于党派立场，而是为倡导负责任的医疗保健政策提供了机会。

费格尔-丁说：“公共卫生部门的工作不是让我们卷起袖子去猪圈里弄脏自己，而是让我们自身免受政治的影响。”

10月30日，在密歇根州参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德的竞选集会上，支持者们举着宣传“全民医保”的标语。[朱莉娅·德马雷·尼金森/美联社照片]

一个日益引发争议的问题

虽然经济问题始终是美国选民最关心的问题，但医疗保健仍然是人们普遍关注的问题。

皮尤研究中心 10 月 8 日的一项民意调查显示，医疗保健是美国人第三大最重要的选举议题，仅次于经济和美国民主的未来。

尤其值得注意的是，民主党人更倾向于将医疗保健列为影响其投票的重要因素之一。82%的民主党人表示这是一个非常重要的问题，而持相同观点的共和党人仅占53%。

波士顿大学公共卫生学院的政策专家马特·莫塔表示，医疗保健政治化并非新鲜事，但它已经发生了演变。他认为，这个问题比以往更具争议性。

莫塔告诉半岛电视台：“健康问题一直都与政治相关，但并非一直都带有党派色彩。如今，我们的健康问题越来越呈现出党派分歧。”

这种裂痕的早期例证之一出现在1994年的中期选举周期。在选举前一年，民主党总统比尔·克林顿的政府一直在推动国会进行医疗改革。

但像众议员纽特·金里奇这样的共和党人却将这种努力贴上了“社会主义”的标签。那一年，右翼政党最终在被称为“共和党革命”的中期选举中赢得了国会两院的控制权。

另一个重要的里程碑是2010年在民主党领导人巴拉克·奥巴马的领导下通过的《平价医疗法案》（ACA）。

莫塔表示，自那以后，医疗保健在新总统当选后的几乎每一次中期选举中都发挥了决定性作用。

例如，在2010年中期选举中，共和党人反对新通过的《平价医疗法案》。然后，在特朗普首次当选后的2018年中期选举中，民主党人则反对他试图废除《平价医疗法案》的努力。

后来，在 2022 年的竞选中，与 COVID-19 疫情相关的限制措施给了共和党人攻击新任民主党领导人、时任总统乔·拜登的动力。

10月29日，民主党参议员候选人安妮·安德鲁斯在南卡罗来纳州哥伦比亚市向选民发表讲话。[萨姆·沃尔夫/美联社照片]

然而，这一次，特朗普再次成为中期选举的焦点。路透社和益普索研究公司在10月下旬的调查发现，他的支持率已跌至历史新低31%。

作为2024年总统候选人，特朗普曾争取那些对美国医疗保健系统持怀疑态度的选民的支持。

自新冠疫情爆发以来，公众对医生和公共卫生研究人员的信任度一直在下降。特朗普正是利用了这一趋势，招募了对疫苗持怀疑态度的罗伯特·F·肯尼迪二世加入他的竞选团队。

肯尼迪以“让美国再次健康”（Make America Healthy Again，简称 MAHA）为口号，号召支持者们团结起来——这是特朗普“让美国再次伟大”（Make America Great Again）口号的变体。

作为回应，特朗普承诺，如果他连任，将让肯尼迪在医疗卫生领域“放手一搏”。连任后不久，特朗普便宣布提名肯尼迪担任卫生与公众服务部部长。

自特朗普第二个任期开始以来，肯尼迪一直力主最大限度地减少联邦疫苗指导方针，这与科学界的共识背道而驰。

他还大力支持削减疾病控制与预防中心 (CDC) 和国家卫生研究院 (NIH) 等机构的预算。

与此同时，特朗普去年动员共和党人通过了《一项伟大的美丽法案》，该法案导致医疗保健支出削减了超过 1 万亿美元。

作为该法案的一部分，共和党人允许医疗保险补贴到期，导致数百万美国人的保费上涨。

莫塔说，这批新晋的民主党医生出身的候选人“正试图利用大多数人对这些决定的不满情绪”。

例如，在南卡罗来纳州，儿科医生出身的民主党参议员候选人安德鲁斯指出，该州爆发的麻疹疫情证明了特朗普的卫生政策失败。

据估计，2025 年至 2026 年间，该州报告了 997 例病例。

“我们正在与一个老杀手的回归擦肩而过，这并非因为科学发生了改变，也并非因为病毒本身发生了改变，而是因为我们的政治发生了改变，”安德鲁斯在二月份一篇关于疫情爆发的专栏文章中写道。

“在联邦政府最高层，我们眼睁睁地看着医学专家的意见被弃之不顾，而阴谋论却被大肆宣扬。”

与此同时，在密歇根州，埃尔-赛义德通过指出最近环孢子虫病病例的增加来吹嘘自己的健康资质。环孢子虫是一种会引起腹泻的寄生虫，可以通过新鲜农产品（如生菜）传播。

“如果我当选，我将成为近 50 年来第一位当选美国参议员的民主党医生，”埃尔-赛义德在 9 月份的一次竞选活动中说道。

“如果你已经厌倦了在美国躲避生菜，我想我们都会同意，我们现在可能需要一位公共卫生参议员。”

他和一些民主党人将寄生虫的传播归咎于特朗普削减预算导致联邦政府食品检查能力下降。

2024年10月29日，美国众议员阿米·贝拉在加州医疗保险市场（Covered California）的会议上发表讲话。[Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo]

历史上出现过多少次？

目前，国会中的大多数医生都是共和党人，其中包括此前当选参议员的四位医生。

但这些党内动态可能会发生变化。一位备受瞩目的共和党医生、参议员比尔·卡西迪即将卸任。其他一些人，例如堪萨斯州的参议员罗杰·马歇尔，则面临着连任前景不明朗的局面。

与此同时，至少有五位拥有医学学位的民主党新人正计划在11月的中期选举后加入第120届国会。

据 Nurse.org 网站报道，今年至少有 10 名民主党护士竞选国会议员，而共和党候选人只有 4 名。

不过，并非所有参加11月选举的医疗保健专业人士都对医疗保健政策持有相同的观点。

安德鲁斯在南卡罗来纳州告诉 NewsNation，“全民医保”（一项全民公共医疗保健提案）是一项“过时的、不切实际的政策”。

相比之下，埃尔-赛义德是这项政策的坚定支持者，他曾与人合著了一本名为《全民医保：公民指南》的书。

美国拥有世界上高收入国家中最昂贵的医疗保健系统之一，而医疗费用的可负担性一直是许多民主党医生竞选活动中的共同特点。

例如，安德鲁斯将她的政治纲领称为“患者与价格平台”，并在她的州内进行了一次名称类似的巡回演讲。

美国众议员、加州民主党人阿米·贝拉（Ami Bera）同时也是一名医生，他告诉半岛电视台，美国正处于决定其医疗保健系统未来的关键时刻。

贝拉正在竞选连任，参加中期选举，部分原因是他认为医生和病人应该成为讨论的中心，而不是仅仅关注成本。

“我们别谈报酬了。我们来谈谈我们为什么要读医学院——我们想照顾我们的病人，”贝拉说。

“那些有过临床经验、在诊室和手术室待过的医生，对病人护理有着独特的见解。他们把这种独特的见解带到了国会。”

今年，贝拉帮助成立了民主党医生政治行动委员会，旨在推动医疗保健事业的发展，以此作为选举季的一项重要议题。

其他一些以健康为主题的团体也同样投入了大量资金和资源。倡导科学的组织“314行动”在10月份报告称，他们在今年的中期选举中花费了近3000万美元。

但贝拉表示乐观，认为医疗保健最终不会被视为单一政党的问题或党派分裂的根源。

“直到现在，讨论的焦点一直都是这样，对吧？民主党人捍卫《平价医疗法案》，共和党人攻击该法案，”贝拉说。“我认为现在正处于如此危机的时刻，这让我们有机会思考‘接下来该怎么办’？”

Vax PAC 的创始人费格尔-丁也认为，这次中期选举是一个机遇。

他指出，俄亥俄州卫生部前部长艾米·阿克顿最近在民主党初选中获胜，她现在正在竞选该州州长。

根据马里斯特大学最近的一项民调显示，阿克顿在周二的投票前领先她的共和党对手7个百分点。费格尔-丁称这一结果具有历史意义。

“想想看，历史上有多少次卫生局长竞选州长并赢得初选，现在又有可能赢得州长选举？”费格尔-丁问道。