‘A complete repudiation’: public health won big in US midterm elections
Election wins of Annie Andrews, Abdul El-Sayed and more who ran on healthcare issues are viewed as sign of home as Trump administration unravels US health policy Public health leaders and politicians who made healthcare a central part of their platforms swept into office in the US midterm elections last week, setting the stage for national, state and local changes. Voters, faced with an unprecedented rise in…
Key points
- Public health candidates won national, state and local races in the US midterm elections last week.
- Annie Andrews will be the first pediatrician in the US Senate after campaigning on impeaching Robert F Kennedy Jr.
- Voters in several states rejected proposed abortion restrictions, and Virginia passed a constitutional amendment on marriage equality and reproductive rights.
Candidates who made public health and healthcare central to their campaigns won races across national, state and local levels in the US midterm elections last week, The Guardian reported. Voters cast ballots amid an unprecedented rise in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and devastating outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.
Julie Scofield, a member of the coordinating committee at the grassroots organization Defend Public Health, described the results as a rejection of President Trump's policies. "I think it's a complete repudiation," she said.
Public health leaders elected
Annie Andrews will be the first pediatrician in the US Senate. She campaigned on impeaching health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and pushed for improving vaccination rates after measles spread through her home state of South Carolina.
Amy Acton, governor-elect of Ohio, and Abdul El-Sayed, senator-elect from Michigan, were public health leaders in the Covid response, which their opponents unsuccessfully tried to use against them. Richard Pan, a pediatrician who led a California law eliminating religious and personal vaccination exemptions, will serve in the US House, as will emergency medicine doctor Amish Shah of Arizona and surgeon Adam Hamawy of New Jersey.
The American people are speaking out against President Trump and the policies that he’s been rolling out since the day he took office
— Julie Scofield
State and local shifts
Democrats flipped state houses and legislatures in several states, changes experts say will reshape action on abortion, gender-affirming care and vaccines. In Texas, the successor to attorney general Ken Paxton has already announced he will drop several lawsuits, including ones against pediatricians who gave vaccines and providers who mailed abortion pills.
In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of a US state. Voters in several states also rejected proposed abortion restrictions, and Virginia passed a constitutional amendment to enshrine marriage equality and reproductive rights. Scofield said anti-trans ads backfired, adding that public health authority largely rests with the states.
