MAHA Voters Blamed for Democratic Midterm Sweep

The Make America Healthy Again coalition helped Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election, but two years later some of its supporters say broken promises on pesticides and vaccines drove them to back Democrats or stay home in the midterms. Activists involved in the movement say disappointment over those issues contributed to the Democratic victory, though how widespread the choices were and whether they meaningfully affected certain races remains unclear.

Democrats decisively took control of the House and Senate on Tuesday, winning seats in states long considered Republican strongholds, including Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina. Zen Honeycutt, founder and executive director of Moms Across America, said many people had said they would not vote, and by not voting they handed the win to the Democrats. She added that when promises to the American people are not fulfilled, voters will not show up.

Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said it is hard to know without more specific voting data how much of an actual impact MAHA had on the midterm results. He added that the movement is large enough that even a fraction of its supporters’ votes would have been sufficient to make a decisive difference.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought the MAHA movement into Trump’s orbit during the 2024 campaign after endorsing him, and Trump later tapped him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and longtime vaccine skeptic, has faced widespread criticism from doctors and scientists for efforts to slash U.S. vaccine recommendations and research funding.

The Democratic triumph puts both houses of Congress under party control starting in January, opening the door to subpoenas, hearings, and possible impeachment for Kennedy. Erik Polyak, executive director of the Democratic PAC 314 Action, said Democrats will investigate every conflict of interest and described going after Kennedy as the group’s biggest motivator and fundraising tool.

Kennedy will face the onslaught without Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, who started the MAHA Caucus in December 2024 before the Senate confirmed Kennedy as health secretary. Marshall lost his Kansas Senate race to Democrat Adam Hamilton by five points, becoming the first Republican to lose a Kansas Senate race in nearly a hundred years.

Of the 21 MAHA-endorsed candidates for federal office, 12 lost, seven won, and two races remain uncalled, with all winners sitting on safe seats. At the state level, 42 of the 76 MAHA picks were defeated. In Texas, Ken Paxton lost his Senate bid to Democrat James Talarico despite hundreds of millions of dollars from Republican groups and Elon Musk in the most expensive non-presidential race in U.S. history. In Iowa, Zach Lahn lost the governor’s race, and Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn were also ousted.