Democrats in U.S. Senate, House races win endorsements from health care advocacy group

A health care advocacy group is endorsing 17 Democrats for U.S. Senate and House races who will support abortion rights, Medicaid and other initiatives.

“The Committee to Protect Health Care is proud to endorse these candidates because of their commitment to protecting and expanding access to affordable health care,” said Rob Davidson, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Health Care.

“We’re confident that these ‘Care for U.S. Candidates’ will put patients ahead of special interests, defend reproductive freedom, and support legislation to lower health care costs. We look forward to working with them in Congress to ensure everyone in the United States has access to the health care they need to thrive.”

In the House, the endorsements are for Gay Valimont in Florida’s 1st Congressional District; Sandy Kennedy (CD 8); Darren Soto (CD 9); Maxwell Frost (CD 10); Barbie Harden Hall (CD 11); Kathy Castor (CD 14); Pat Kemp (CD 15); Jan Schneider (CD 16); Manny Lopez (CD 17); Thomas Witkop (CD 21); Lois Frankel (CD 22); Jared Moskowitz (CD 23); Frederica Wilson (CD 24); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (CD 25); Lucia Báez-Geller (CD 27); and Phil Ehr (CD 28).

The group is also supporting former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is running against Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

“Now more than ever, the stakes in health care are extremely high for our patients in Florida, from whether they can remain free to make their own medical decisions to whether they can afford the prescription drugs they need just to live,” said Mona Mangat, a Tampa Bay-based immunologist and Board Chair of the Committee to Protect Health Care.

“Given the significant impact of health policies on every single Floridian, the Committee to Protect Health Care looks forward to supporting our ‘Care for U.S.’ candidates and helping them get across the finish line in November.”

The round of endorsements are all for Democrats, but spokesman Annika Isaguirre said the organization is nonpartisan and supports any party “if their values and policy stances align with those of the organization.”

“Our endorsements are determined by a combination of legislative record, questionnaire responses, and aligned values on issues of health care,” Isaguirre said. “We maintain an open invitation to all candidates to submit our questionnaire for consideration for endorsement, and hope they will submit the questionnaire soon so we, and the voters, may better understand all candidates’ exact positions on important health care issues.”