Doctors backed by 314 Action Fund helped Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open Senate seat and Dr. Annie Andrews flipped South Carolina, making them the first Democratic doctors elected to the Senate since the 1960s. The last time a Democratic physician served in the chamber, Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid. In response, 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton released the following statement:
“Democratic doctors flipped the Senate and made history on Tuesday. The last time a Democratic doctor sat in the Senate, Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid. Sixty years later, voters are sending medical professionals back to Washington to fight for access to affordable healthcare and stop the bleeding,” said 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton.
“Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Dr. Annie Andrews ran as doctors and won as doctors, in two of the biggest races in the country.Their historic victories are a referendum on this administration’s war on science and healthcare,” Naughton added. “Trump, RFK Jr. and Senate Republicans made the largest cuts to healthcare in American history, slashed billions from scientific and medical research and turned U.S. vaccine policy over to conspiracy theorists—and it cost them the Senate.”
2026 was a healthcare election—voters went to the polls ranking healthcare costs among their top concerns, and trusted doctors far more than the administration to fix them. Data for Progress polling found 86% of voters trust doctors to shape healthcare policy, compared with just 40% who trust RFK Jr.
Both Dr. Al Sayed and Dr. Andrews were part of 314 Action’s Guardians of Public Health initiative launched ahead of the midterms. The program aims to elect 100 new doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals by 2030, and 314 Action has committed to raising and spending over $25 million in the effort.