‘Revenge of the nerds’: US midterms deliver a win for science – and a rebuke of Maha
The wins for Democrats come after years of cuts and upheaval to US health and science infrastructure A political organizations behind a wave of Democratic doctors and scientists winning elections up and down the ballot is calling the stunning rebuke of Trumpism the “Stem swing” and “revenge of the nerds”. The wins come after years of cuts and upheaval to US health and science infrastructure, as…
The United States midterm elections delivered a victory for science and a rebuke of the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement, according to a political group working to elect Democratic health professionals and scientists. Erik Polyak, executive director of 3.14 Action, stated that the results make it clear that 2026 was a healthcare election.
Among the history-making lawmakers are Democrat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Dr. Annie Andrews of South Carolina – the first Democratic doctor to hold a seat in the US Senate since 1969. The election results illustrate the frustration of voters with the high cost of living, the complicated healthcare system, and the expensive healthcare system.
Republican doctors and scientists, who have long held leadership roles in Congress, saw their dominance turn. Democrats capitalized on the upheaval caused by Trump and Kennedy, who disrupted and defunded federal work on vaccines. Democrats ran more than 158,000 healthcare-related ads, while Republicans ran 61,000. The election flipped control of the House through Democratic doctors and scientists, who will now face the challenge of undoing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's draconian cuts and lobbying to pass wide-ranging health proposals.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
