Over 125 health professionals run in midterms

Key Clinical Takeaways:
• Over 125 healthcare professionals are running in the current midterm elections following years of pandemic strain and political scrutiny.
• Candidate recruitment groups like 314 Action report application increases, with over 700 individuals applying to run this cycle compared to the usual 200.
• Legislative bodies currently feature minimal representation from medical backgrounds, with roughly 3% of state legislators holding medical, science, or engineering degrees as of March 2025.

Why Are Health Professionals Running for Office Now?

The campaigns emerged directly in the aftermath of COVID-19. During the pandemic, doctors and health officials were initially celebrated, subsequently overwhelmed by work and tragedy for years, and in some instances targeted because of distrust or politics surrounding their public messaging. Several candidates realized during that intense period that their clinical training and expertise in health and science were far more closely tied to government and politics than they had previously understood.

“One of the things you learn to do in medicine is to listen and sit with somebody in pain and help them to clarify what the opportunities are, based on your knowledge about how the body or their health works, and I find that the work of politics is really quite similar,” said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former health director for Wayne County, Michigan, who is running for the US Senate against Republican Mike Rogers.

Other prominent medical and public health figures on the ballot include Dr. Amy Acton, a preventive medicine specialist and former high-profile public health director for Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who is running for governor as a Democrat against biotech billionaire and Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. In California, former Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is vying for governor against Republican media personality Steve Hilton. South Carolina pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews is running for the US Senate as a Democrat against Darline Graham. Candidates with healthcare industry experience are also running, including Democratic healthcare attorney Cinde Warmington for New Hampshire governor and Republican Rick Jackson, founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare, for Georgia governor.

How Do Medical Backgrounds Compare in Current Legislative Bodies?

Despite the current wave of candidates, the baseline representation of medical and scientific professionals in government remains remarkably low. Historian Dr. Kristoffer Shields, director of the Eagleton Center on the American Governor at Rutgers University, noted that the link between science and politics has historically been weak.

Less than 10% of the current US Congress holds a medical, public health, or engineering degree. By comparison, 47% of senators and 31% of House members hold law degrees. While Congress maintains active Republican and Democratic doctors’ caucuses, only four senators possess health backgrounds: Republicans John Barrasso of Wyoming, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Roger Marshall of Kansas, and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The House includes 17 physicians, four dentists, two pharmacists, a nurse practitioner, an optometrist, and a rehabilitation therapist.

At the state level, representation is even thinner and declining. Only about 3% of state legislators possessed medical, science, or engineering backgrounds as of March 2025, according to a Rutgers analysis of the Scientists in State Politics Database, representing a 25% drop from the prior year. Hawaii’s Josh Green serves as the sole US governor with a medical degree, and no current governors hold a public health degree. No physician has ever been elected US president.

What Is Driving the Surge in Candidate Applications?

Erik Polyak, executive director of 314 Action—a political action committee that recruits, trains, and supports Democratic candidates with science, tech, engineering, and math backgrounds—stated that his organization experienced a massive influx of support requests. The group received over 700 applications from individuals wanting to run for office, a significant jump from the typical 200 applications seen in past election cycles.

The American Medical Association has long encouraged medical professionals to engage in politics, operating candidate workshops and campaign schools for its members.

Public health professionals experienced a parallel surge in interest. Dr. Kristin Hook, a former staffer at the US National Institutes of Health and the Government Accountability Office who ran unsuccessfully in Texas’s 21st Congressional District in 2024 and returned to the ballot for the same seat, noted that federal and public health workers reached out from across the country seeking advice on entering politics to protect scientific integrity.

What Policy Battles and Public Strains Motivate These Candidates?

Healthcare ranks alongside gas prices as a primary household expense worrying voters. Many healthcare-background candidates voice sharp disapproval of federal leadership changes at the Department of Health and Human Services. Xavier Becerra criticized the departure of established scientists and health professionals from federal agencies, characterizing the shift as a man-made disaster threatening American health and the economy.

At the same time, public health leaders face lingering voter friction stemming from pandemic-era policies.