2026 midterms: Five consequential races for vaccine policy

In Iowa, the Republican candidate for governor wants to end all school vaccine requirements. In Florida, the Republican running for governor recently told CBS that he supported his state’s push to remove certain vaccine mandates for schools. And in Texas, the Republican Senate candidate spent the last few years as the state’s attorney general investigating financial interests linked to vaccine recommendations. 

Vaccine policy has become a prominent issue ahead of the November midterms elections, spurred on by a vaccine-skeptical president and health secretary. A number of Republican candidates have embraced health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again message, which includes an emphasis on medical freedom and a rejection of vaccine mandates. Other, more liberal candidates, have positioned themselves as willing to stand up and hold Kennedy accountable. 

“I can’t wait to sit across from RFK Jr. and actually grill him,” Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said on CNN in August after winning his party’s nomination.