To: Interested Parties
From: Erik Polyak, 314 Action Executive Director
Date: March 18, 2026
RE: The STEM Wave: Biss’ Win in IL-09 is Not an Isolated Victory
The STEM Wave: Biss’ Win in IL-09 is Not an Isolated Victory
On Tuesday, PhD Mathematician and Evanston Mayor, Daniel Biss won in a 15-way primary in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, where he will almost certainly be the next member of Congress. Despite nearly $9 million in outside funding spent against him, Biss withstood the attacks from the left and right, and came out on top.
314 Action Fund endorsed Biss early in the cycle and our Super PAC spent $410,000 entirely on positive ads across digital and mail to boost his candidacy. Biss’ win isn’t an isolated victory—within the last few months, we’ve also seen victories for agricultural scientist Jamie Ager in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District and over 100 STEM leaders won in November 2025 elections. That’s not a coincidence. It’s the result of a decade of recruiting, training, and electing STEM candidates at every level of government, building a bench of qualified STEM leaders downballot and preparing them to run for Congress.
Biss’ decisive win is a bellwether for the competitive primaries this cycle. When given the opportunity, voters will largely choose a Democratic scientist or doctor over other Democratic candidates. Recent polling shows that doctors and scientists hold the highest trust among voters and that credibility can be the difference 314 Action’s candidates need to win their primary.
Daniel Biss and candidates like him running in competitive primaries are breaking through as voters across the spectrum respond to their evidence and fact-based solutions that meet the moment. The next big primary fight will play out in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, where 314 Action Fund has invested $2.5 million in a targeted mail, digital, TV and radio program supporting Dr. Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon who has been endorsed by retiring incumbent Dwight Evans.
To win the House majority, Democrats need to advance the strongest candidates through their primaries—and the best candidates to take on Republicans in the general election are STEM candidates. Among the competitive primaries across the country, six key primaries to watch in 2026 include: AZ-01, CA-06, CA-22, CO-08, PA-03, and ME-GOV.
Early Investments, Outsized Impact
Competing in Democratic primaries for open seats is a long-standing part of 314 Action Fund’s strategy. 314 Action has a track record of working with STEM candidates to win their primaries. This strategy helped elect candidates like Representatives Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Dr. Herb Conaway (NJ-03), Dr. Kim Schrier (WA-08), and Eric Sorensen (IL-17)—among others.
In each of these races, 314 Action Fund identified and endorsed the STEM candidate before the field consolidated, and in each case, that early investment paid off. In the 2024 cycle, 314 Action Fund elected 7 new STEM members of Congress including four open safe democratic seats, including: Conaway (NJ-03), Dexter (OR-03), Morrison (MN-03) and Rivas (CA-29).
Six Democratic Primaries to Watch
With multiple competitive primaries happening across the country in the midterms, here are six key primaries to watch in 2026:
- AZ-01 — Dr. Amish Shah: Dr. Amish Shah is an emergency room physician and a former Arizona State Representative. In the State Legislature, Dr. Shah had more bills signed into law than any Arizona Democrat in the last decade, with an emphasis on supporting small businesses and improving public health and safety. Arizona’s First Congressional District is one of the top pick-up opportunities in the nation, ranked by Cook Political as an R+1 district. Currently, there are 11 Democrats competing in the AZ-01 primary, but Dr. Shah leads his nearest primary opponent by a 3-to-1 margin, while the remainder of the candidates hold less than 2% support each.
- CA-06 — Dr. Richard Pan: Dr. Richard Pan is a pediatrician, a UC Davis professor and former California legislator. Dr. Pan chaired the Committee on Health while serving both in the state’s Assembly and State Senate. He led the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, reduced the uninsured rate by two-thirds and authored California’s landmark vaccination laws. Multiple polls show Dr. Pan leading the Democratic field in the initial ballot, with his lead only extending as voters learn more about each candidate. Dr. Pan has raised the most amount of money since launching his campaign and is ahead of his primary candidates by every metric.
- CA-22 — Dr. Jasmeet Bains: Dr. Jasmeet Bains is a family doctor and a State Assemblywoman. As a doctor, she was Chief Medical Officer for the Central Valley on the California Medical Assistance Team and became Chair of the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission. In the Assembly, she secured millions to fight fentanyl addiction and drug trafficking, led the effort to build a UC medical school in Kern County, and cut taxes for working moms and veterans—all while continuing to see patients. CA-22 has the highest Medicaid enrollment rate in the U.S and despite this, Representative David Valadao voted to gut one trillion dollars from the program. In February, she received the majority vote from the CA-22 delegates during the California Democratic Party’s Endorsing Caucus, earning more than 56% of the vote. Voters know Dr. Jasmeet Bains is the only candidate with the expertise and hands-on experience to flip the district.
- CO-08 — Manny Rutinel: After earning his degree in microbiology and economics, Manny became an Economist for the US Army Corps of Engineers. After graduating law school, Manny became an environmental attorney, fighting to protect Colorado’s air, land, and water, before being elected to the State House. CO-08 is rated a true toss up, with a R+0 and is one of the top pick-up opportunities in the nation. Manny is well positioned to not only win his primary, but to defeat Representative Gabe Evans. In March, Manny won the preference vote at the Larimer County Democratic Assembly with over 83% of the vote and has continued to dominate fundraising numbers against his primary opponents.
- PA-03 — Dr. Ala Stanford: Dr. Ala Stanford has spent her career working to close the gaps in medical care and ensure everyone has access to the same high quality care. She was the first Black woman pediatric surgeon trained entirely in the U.S. She founded the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium and the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity. She was later appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Mid-Atlantic regional director. As the only doctor running for PA-03, Dr. Stanford’s medical background puts her in the best position to win the primary, especially in a district with the second-highest Medicaid recipients in Pennsylvania where patients and hospitals will feel the impact of the GOP Medicaid cuts, and with affordability and health care emerging as the top concerns in the 2026 midterms.
- ME-GOV — Nirav Shah: Nirav Shah served as the Maine CDC Director during an unprecedented public health crisis where his leadership served as a blueprint for the nation. Nirav was tapped to become the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. CDC during President Joe Biden’s administration. With 13 candidates running in the Maine gubernatorial race, Nirav is the clear frontrunner. As a public health official, Nirav is the candidate Mainers know and trust. And in poll after poll, Nirav leads the field and is best positioned to win the nomination.
About 314 Action Fund
314 Action Fund is the nation’s only organization working to recruit, train and elect scientists. Over the past 10 years, 314 Action Fund has elected over 500+ STEM candidates to all levels of government.
In the 2026 cycle, 314 Action Fund is already working with 250 STEM candidates running nationwide.
Bottom Line: Biss’ win is not an isolated victory but part of a growing STEM wave this cycle. The Trump administration is waging war on science and public health, and voters are fighting back by choosing the candidates they trust most. 314 Action invests early in scientists and doctors because they don’t just win primaries, they’re the strongest nominees to win in competitive districts Democrats need for the House majority. In every one of these six races, a 314 Action-backed scientist or doctor is leading—that’s what happens when you invest in candidates who are trusted messengers with a mission voters already believe in.