ANALYSIS — At a time when most voters are skeptical of politicians, both parties are looking to doctors and nurses to secure control of Congress. With nearly two dozen doctors and nurses currently serving on Capitol Hill, it’s a pretty good strategy.
Even if health care isn’t the top issue this year — it ranked fifth in a recent NBC News poll — Republican and Democratic strategists believe voters will still give health care practitioners and professionals a second look compared with a typical attorney or state legislator.
More than 30 doctors and nurses are running for Congress nationwide, but a handful of current incumbents could lose reelection, so there’s some question as to whether doctors can improve their numbers on Capitol Hill.
It’s a bicameral dynamic
There’s been at least one high-profile doctor in the Senate for decades, going back to Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and former Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. Currently, there are four doctors serving in the Senate, all Republicans: Rand Paul of Kentucky and John Barrasso of Wyoming, who are not up for reelection this cycle, and Roger Marshall of Kansas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who will face voters this year.
Cassidy is in the most electoral trouble. His relationship with President Donald Trump never recovered from his impeachment vote following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Trump endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow ahead of the May 16 primary, which also includes state Treasurer and former Rep. John Fleming, who is also a doctor and onetime Trump administration official. While Fleming has been in the race longer, Letlow should have the edge with the president’s support.
Marshall is favored to win a second term, but his race could get more competitive if the cycle spirals downward for the Republican Party. There’s a crowd of Democrats vying to challenge him, Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids hasn’t completely ruled out a run herself, and Marshall won’t have Trump at the top of the ticket winning by 15 points, as was the case during his last election, in 2020.
A scenario that has Marshall losing in Kansas probably also includes another doctor, Annie Andrews, winning in South Carolina. The pediatrician is taking on GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham in a long-shot race.
The doctor with the best chance of getting elected to the Senate is probably Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, although his path is not easy. First, he must get past Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary. Then he would need to win a general election in a swing state against Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers, who nearly won the state’s other Senate seat in 2024. If elected, El-Sayed, who is not a practicing physician, would be the first Democratic doctor in the chamber since Alaska’s Ernest Gruening, who didn’t practice either and served until the late 1960s.
And a bipartisan dynamic
The House could also see a handful of new Republican and Democratic doctors elected this year out of the more than two dozen on the ballot this cycle.
Emergency room physician Amish Shah, a Democratic former state legislator from Arizona, came within 4 points of winning in the 1st District in 2024 against GOP Rep. David Schweikert. This cycle, Schweikert is running for governor, and Shah has a chance of winning the open seat, which represents one of Democrats’ best takeover opportunities this year. But Shah must win another competitive Democratic primary before the main event.
Family doctor Jasmeet Bains, a California state assemblymember, is jockeying with fellow Democrat Randy Villegas for the right to take on GOP Rep. David Valadao in the 22nd District. Valadao is considered a strong incumbent, but his lone congressional loss came during Trump’s first midterm in 2018.
In New Jersey, GOP Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. is a Democratic target, but physician Tina Shah has to win the Democratic primary first, and she’s probably in the second tier of candidates with two months to go. In Florida’s 15th District, flight surgeon Darren McAuley is an even longer shot against GOP Rep. Laurel Lee.
In other districts, primaries are doctors’ biggest challenge.
Neurosurgeon John Cowan, who previously lost to Marjorie Taylor Greene in her initial 2020 race, is in a competitive Republican race to succeed Rep. Barry Loudermilk in Georgia’s 11th District. And physician Ralph Alvarado faces Ryan Dotson in the May 19 primary that will probably choose the successor to Rep. Andy Barr in Kentucky’s 6th District (though that general election could also be competitive on a good night for Democrats).
On the Democratic side, pediatric surgeon Ala Stanford is a top-tier candidate in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Dwight Evans in Pennsylvania’s 3rd District. Dave Oxman, another doctor, recently dropped out and endorsed her.
Internist and former California state Sen. Richard Pan is running in the redrawn 6th District, where a Democrat is favored to win. Physician Matt Klein, a state senator, is a top Democrat in Minnesota’s open 2nd District. And two doctors, Adam Hamawy and Brad Cohen, are facing off in New Jersey’s 12th, where Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman is not seeking reelection.
But the overall number of doctors in the House may not increase if some Republican incumbents lose reelection. Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is in a Toss-up race and Maryland Rep. Andy Harris could become a victim of a late Democratic redistricting effort. The new map in Utah could have left Rep. Mike Kennedy without a seat, but he should be fine.
The nursing ranks in the House could see some turnover as well. While Illinois Democrat Lauren Underwood and South Carolina Republican Sheri Biggs are likely to return to Congress, Virginia Republican Jen Kiggans is at serious risk of losing reelection.
At least 10 nurses are on the ballot this year and they all have challenging roads to Capitol Hill.
Georgia state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a microbiologist and nursing school lecturer, is mounting a serious challenge to longtime Rep. David Scott in the 13th District, but defeating incumbents in primaries is never easy. Dentist Heavenly Kimes is also running in the Democratic primary.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Kathy Dolter, who is also a registered nurse, is seeking Iowa’s competitive 2nd District, where the incumbent, Republican Ashley Hinson, is running for the Senate. But Dolter must get past state Rep. Lindsay James in the Democratic primary before the general election opportunity. Veteran/emergency medicine physician assistant Kishla Askins also faces a tough Democratic primary in Nebraska’s 2nd.
Democratic strategists are excited about Air Force veteran Kristina Knickerbocker’s campaign against GOP Rep. Michael R. Turner. But Ohio’s 10th remains on the periphery of the House battleground for now. Wisconsin’s 1st is also a reach seat for Democrats, but party strategists are looking for someone other than emergency room nurse Mitchell Berman to put a scare into GOP Rep. Bryan Steil.
