Washington, D.C. – Last night, voters catapulted Democrats into power after Donald Trump and Republicans took a wrecking ball to American health care to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Health care decided this election. From Texas to Maine, Democrats took the fight to Republicans everywhere, fueling a massive blue wave headed to Congress in January.
Democratic candidates up and down the ballot won the most dramatic health care election since 2018. By holding Republicans accountable for their health care crisis and championing a path forward to expand coverage, lower costs, and rein in the abuses and price gouging of pharmaceutical companies, Democrats won on what Americans have consistently cited as the top concern during this election cycle. As Democratic strategist Celinda Lake told the New York Times, health care is “the No. 1 cost-of-living issue where Democrats have the biggest advantage.” Health care dominated Democratic campaigns, tipped the scales in the most competitive races in the country, and exposed the Republican Party’s greatest weakness.
“This was a health care election from start to finish,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “It started the day that Republicans gutted over $1 trillion from health care to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. The issue only grew at kitchen tables, where families opened premium notices they couldn’t afford and learned the care they counted on was gone. It exploded as hospitals shut down and millions lost life-saving coverage they relied on to see a doctor. And it ended at the ballot box, where voters made Republicans pay.
“Republicans tried everything to escape their record. They hid, changed the subject, and tried to run out the clock, but you can’t outrun a health care crisis you created. They took away lifesaving care from seniors in nursing homes, sick kids, and moms. They supported Trump and RFK Jr. as they destroyed our public health infrastructure. As a result, the uninsured rate has reached the highest point in over a decade, measles and other deadly diseases are spreading, and costs are soaring across the board. Voters saw it, felt it, and didn’t forget.”
“It was not an accident that 2026 turned into a health care election,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “It wasn’t just that Republicans chose to commit political suicide by taking a wrecking ball to American health care to pay for billionaire tax breaks. It took the courage, focus, and strategy of Democrats and their leaders in Congress. Democrats made this election a referendum on who’s fighting for working families and who’s fighting for the ultra-wealthy. Now Trump and Republicans have a choice: work with Democrats to reverse the harm they’ve caused and make health care more affordable for Americans — or face the wrath of voters again in 2028 in another health care election.”
Background:
Democrats have spent the past year and a half leading the fight against Trump and Republicans’ war on health care:
- Democrats provided universal opposition to H.R. 1, which made the largest health care cuts in history to pay for tax cuts. Since then, 8 million Americans have lost the health care coverage they relied on, including over 5 million on Medicaid/CHIP and nearly 3 million who buy health care on their own through the ACA.
- When Republicans shut down the government to rip away health care tax credits for working people, Democrats fought to protect the ACA and won that fight overwhelmingly in the court of public opinion, with roughly twice as many voters blaming Trump and Republicans in Congress.
- Democrats forced a vote in the House and rebuked Republican leadership to pass a bill extending the credits for three years — which Republicans immediately blocked in the Senate.
- While Trump inked sweetheart deals with the big drug companies that price gauge seniors and hard-working Americans to boost their profits, Democrats demanded answers and have made real oversight a top priority for 2027.
- Democrats have put health care at the top of their 2027 agenda and took that to the voters, who overwhelmingly trust Democrats over Republicans on the issue by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.