From WIRED · Kate Knibbs · · 2m
Scientists and doctors swept into office on blue wave
A record number of medical professionals and scientists won seats in the midterm elections, backed by a political action committee focused on pro-science candidates.
In brief
A record number of medical professionals and scientists won seats in the midterm elections, backed by a political action committee focused on pro-science candidates. Doctors and scientists won record numbers of seats in midterm elections, with 314 Action Fund backing candidates who reject medical misinformation and…
Four medical professionals won big
Michigan senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, South Carolina senator-elect Annie Andrews, Ohio governor-elect Amy Acton, and North Carolina representative-elect Jamie Ager all won midterm races. Each is a doctor or scientist.
314 Action Fund backed them all
The political action committee focuses on electing pro-science voices to public office. It raised three point six million dollars for Andrews and three million for Acton this cycle.
The PAC's success rate topped eighty percent
Fourteen of seventeen congressional candidates backed by 314 Action Fund won their races. Nine of those victories flipped seats from Republican to Democrat. Winners included an oncology nurse-practitioner, mathematician, microbiologist, nuclear engineer, and agricultural scientist.
This wave of scientists is unusual
Health care workers and scientists have always served in Congress, but not in such numbers at once.
“Science has been under attack. It's not surprising that scientists have recognized that, and some of them went out and ran for Congress.”
The pandemic changed how doctors think
Historian Kristoffer Shields of Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics says the rise of science candidates stems partly from defunding of laboratories and scientific exploration.
Candidates reject Kennedy's health agenda
Many winning candidates with scientific backgrounds explicitly discussed concerns about health care policy. The election was partly a rejection of Robert F. Kennedy Junior's MAHA movement, which promotes medical misinformation including anti-vaccine sentiment.
Annie Andrews calls Kennedy her archnemesis
South Carolina's Annie Andrews has referred to Robert F.Kennedy Junior as her archnemesis and promised to hold him accountable.
“I am appalled seeing infectious diseases spreading through our communities that we had once declared eradicated.”
314 Action launches new recruitment drive
In twenty twenty-five, 314 Action Fund launched its Guardians of Public Health initiative to recruit health care experts to run for public office. The organization is starting its next recruitment round later this month.
“We have this program and we need you to step up to run, because we have a madman running the Health and Human Services cabinet.”
The key point
Doctors and scientists won record numbers of seats in midterm elections, with 314 Action Fund backing candidates who reject medical misinformation and oppose Robert F. Kennedy Junior's health agenda.
