Voters Care About Health Care Reform
Health care was the top issue of concern to voters in 2018 and will continue to be an important issue in future elections. Formed in May 2018, the mission of Ask Nurses and Doctors is to organize local health care professionals on behalf of competitive Congressional candidates who have practical approaches to affordable, quality universal health insurance coverage.
Case Study
Our Work in Maine – District 2
Maine District 2 covers a large area of rural Maine. In a close race, the 2018 congressional election pitted Jared Golden (D), who advocated specific national health system reforms to increase and improve insurance coverage, against the incumbent Bruce Poliquin (R), who vehemently opposed Medicaid expansion.
AND met regularly with Golden’s communications director and other campaign staff. In response to the campaign’s “asks,” we:
- Formed a new organization, Health Professionals for Jared Golden, organizing more than 100 health professionals from Maine District 2 in support of Jared — in under a month
- Produced op-ed pieces on many health care issues written by local physicians and published in the Bangor Daily News and other papers — view a sample op-ed
- Organized press events with Jared and local health care professionals
- Coordinated health professionals to participate in all aspects of public relations, including print and YouTube endorsements — view endorsement videos
- Encouraged donations on the part of health professionals directly to the campaign, and facilitated broader fund-raising events led by health care professionals
It was a close race, and AND’s work contributed to Jared’s successful election. Congressman Jared Golden was the first challenger to defeat an incumbent Congressman in the second district of Maine in 96 years.
Now that Jared is in office, AND is continuing to work with him and his staff to improve health for all residents in Maine-2 and, in fact, all Americans.