MAHA loses influence in the midterms
Democrats won an unprecedented midterm sweep on Tuesday, bowling over the Make America Healthy Again movement and its favored candidates. More than half of the 24 MAHA-endorsed candidates lost their races, including Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton and Iowa governor candidate Zach Lahn. The defeat of Iowa governor candidate Zach Lahn to Democrat Rob Sand by an 11-point spread turned the office blue for the first time in 20 years, as Lahn was considered a dream candidate for the movement. I see this as a clear defeat for the movement. The coalition splintered before voting even began as supporters accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of betrayals.
The movement contains disparate groups with opposing ideologies, such as those who believe in chemtrails and those focused on food quality. Mary Talley Bowden, an anti-vaccine advocate, polled her followers on Wednesday and found that 49 percent favored forming a third party. Joining the Democrats earned only 3 percent of those votes. Tiffany Cianci, a former supporter, published a scorecard in October that reported 37 broken promises, five partially fulfilled promises, and zero kept promises. Kennedy claimed he had an "understanding" with food companies about removing synthetic dyes, but those dyes remain in foods. Robert Malone, a former Kennedy ally, wrote that MAHA was supposed to expose the revolving door between money, industry and government, not build its own. Calley Means, a senior advisor to Kennedy, resigned in October due to frustration with food policy delays. Vani Hari, an influencer known as "food babe," said on social media that women do not vote for glyphosate and war.
A win for science advocates
The election results favor a new wave of medical professionals that political organizers call the "Stem swing." While Republican physicians held 86 percent of physician-member seats in Congress from 2011 to 2020, the 2026 election reversed this trend. Democrats flipped at least 10 Republican seats, and the final number of flipped seats should reach the low 30s. I find the victory of science-focused candidates like Abdul El-Sayed and Annie Andrews to be the most significant part of the night. These winners face a difficult environment because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces draconian Medicaid cuts set for January 1, 2027.
The campaign saw intense spending on health issues, as Democrats ran 158,000 healthcare-related ads compared to 61,000 from Republicans. This spending helped overcome the instability in federal agencies like the CDC, which lost one-third of its staff during a measles outbreak. The FDA also struggled to manage a historic outbreak of cyclosporiasis, and the NIH lost leadership and saw research stymied amid censorship. While 41 percent of US adults say they support MAHA, only 4 percent of those supporters cited vaccines and medical choice as their reason for supporting the movement, according to a KFF poll. This disconnect between the movement’s popular food safety goals and its fringe medical views likely contributed to the widespread Republican losses.
Democrats attempt to reclaim the platform
Democrats intend to absorb the popular elements of the MAHA agenda while rejecting its anti-science rhetoric. A House Democrat policy document titled "Reclaiming MAHA and Protecting American Families" outlines plans to address food safety and environmental contamination. This strategy targets issues with high bipartisan support, as a May KFF poll found 75 percent of Americans want stricter regulations on food additives and 64 percent want stricter regulation of pesticides.
The movement may fracture as Democrats attempt to lead on these topics. Kennedy’s removal from office could make it easier for some to focus on healthy foods and environmental contaminants. However, many loyalists like Zen Honeycutt remain committed to him. Honeycutt told Politico that Kennedy is her "red line" and warned that impeaching him would be "extremely unwise." While 50 percent of voters thought the Democratic Party was better able to handle healthcare, only 30 percent thought the same of the Republican Party, according to a KFF poll on election day. The disconnect between the movement’s priorities and voter needs remains a central problem for MAHA.
