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There are 13 scientists running for Congress tomorrow - here's what these engineers, physicians, and computer programmers want to do in DC
There are 13 scientists running for Congress tomorrow - here's what these engineers, physicians, and computer programmers want to do in DC
Hilary Brueck,Peter KoteckiNov 6, 2018, 04:24 IST
Democratic House candidate and biochemical engineer Sean Casten speaks to supporters in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois, outside Chicago. Casten's running against Republican incumbent Peter Roskam, in what has historically been a reliably Republican district.AP Photo/Sara Burnett
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When politicians are asked tough questions about policies that defy science, they'll sometimes retort: "Hey, I'm not a scientist."
But 13 new political candidates are attempting to bolster the science credentials on Capitol Hill in the 2018 midterm elections. A crop of scientists are running for office across the country, in states from South Carolina to Nevada and California, hoping voters will pick them tomorrow.
These candidates have the support of a nonprofit political action committee called 314 Action, which started in 2016 and is dedicated to recruiting, training, and funding scientists and healthcare workers who want to run for political office.
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"Scientists are essentially problem-solvers," Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, told Business Insider. "Right now, there are more talk radio show hosts in Congress than there are chemists and physicists."
Since Congress wrestles with complex issues like climate change, cybersecurity, and how to provide fairer, cheaper healthcare, Naughton thinks we should put more scientists into the decision-making body.
"Who better to be tackling these issues than scientists?" she said.
Here's what to know about the two Senate and 11 House hopefuls who are running for office.
There are two new scientist candidates running for Senate. Both have political experience, but they've never been senators. One is Phil Bredesen, a Harvard physicist and computer programmer who is running to represent Tennessee.
Bredesen, a Democrat, was governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011.
To say that Bredesen has been well liked in the state is an understatement: When he was re-elected as governor in 2006, Bredesen swept every county. During his time as governor, he expanded health-insurance coverage in the state and also made forest preservation a priority.
The former founder of HealthAmerica Corporation — an HMO that was bought by a larger company in 1986 — is still focused on healthcare pricing and coverage in his Senate race.
He’s vying for Republican Bob Corker’s old seat, running against Republican congresswoman Marsha Blackburn.
The other is congresswoman and computer programmer Jacky Rosen, who is running for Senate in Nevada. She champions internet privacy protection for consumers.
Rosen, who was elected to Congress in 2016, is running for Senate against Nevada’s senior senator Dean Heller.
A Democrat, Rosen has pointed out that her opponent was a deciding vote on the law that allows internet-service providers to sell consumer data without their permission. Rosen also touts her role in the construction of a large solar array in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. That array, she said, reduced her synagogue’s energy bill by 70%.
The Hill rates the Republican seat Rosen is running for as one of the most likely to flip this year. Nevada voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Chrissy Houlahan is an Air Force vet, industrial engineer, MIT grad, and former high school chemistry teacher. The Democrat is running to represent Pennsylvania's 6th District.
The Republican incumbent in Pennsylvania's 6th District, Ryan Costello, isn't running this year, after he fumed about the district lines being redrawn. (A map of the district had to be retraced after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the district had been unfairly gerrymandered in favor of Republicans.)
Houlahan, who was the chief operating officer of And1 (a basketball apparel company), has said that one of her top priorities if elected would be to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for everyone.
Joe Cunningham is an ocean engineer who's running for Congress in South Carolina's 1st District. Cunningham, a Democrat, has been sparring with his Republican opponent over the future of offshore drilling.
Cunningham is running to represent the bulk of South Carolina's coastal residents. The district includes Hilton Head and Charleston.
"As an ocean engineer, I know firsthand how destructive drilling for oil — and even just testing for oil — can be to a coastline," Cunningham says on his website.
His expertise on the issue has won over the Republican mayors of two coastal cities: Folly Beach and Isle of Palms. Both leaders said they'd pick Cunningham over the Republican candidate, Katie Arrington, who currently serves in the state's House of Representatives. That's because Cunningham opposes offshore drilling and Arrington does not, the Post and Courier reported.
"Why we're even having the conversation about offshore drilling just blows my mind," Cunningham told the Courier.
Engineer TJ Cox founded a company that's developing tanks that turn animal waste into energy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He's hoping to represent California’s 21st District as a Democrat.
After volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Cox founded the Central Valley Fund, which has invested more than $65 million to provide affordable, environmentally friendly housing and retrofitting in low-income California communities. Cox has also founded two nut-processing businesses.
Cox is facing Republican incumbent David Valadao in California’s 21st District, a central portion of the state in the San Joaquin Valley. The district has a 17-point Democratic registration advantage.
Biochemical engineer Sean Casten is running to represent Illinois’ 6th District. He founded an energy-recycling company with his father that aims to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.
The Casten family business, Recycled Energy Development, used converted energy waste — especially excess heat created at factories — to create thermal electricity for other uses. The company operated several facilities in states like New York and California before the business was folded into Ironclad Energy.
Casten, a Democrat, is now running to represent a district that contains many wealthy Chicago suburbs.
His opponent, Republican incumbent Peter Roskam, has been representing the district since 2007. Roskam has called the consensus on climate change "junk science," but when Casten became his opponent, Roskam joined the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
Naughton said that having more scientists like Casten on the ballot is making it harder for politicians to tout false claims about the climate.
"For too long and too often, politicians can put out statements and policies that completely contradict the scientific consensus, and still go unchallenged," she said. "Yet, when Sean Casten becomes the Democratic nominee, Roskam finds it in his interest to join the climate change caucus."
Aerospace engineer Joseph Kopser is running in Texas' 21st District. He served for 20 years in the US Army and received the Bronze Star after serving in Iraq.
Kopser founded the tech company RideScout to help make commutes easier, and he co-founded the National Security Technology Accelerator, which aims to improve the country's energy-security policies.
Kopser, a Democrat, originally launched a bid to challenge House Science Chairman Lamar Smith, but Smith decided not to seek re-election.
So tomorrow Kopser is up against Republican Chip Roy, who previously served as vice president of strategy for the Texas Public Policy Foundation (a conservative think tank) and as chief of staff to Senator Ted Cruz.
Matt Longjohn was the first physician to serve as the YMCA’s national health director. He's hoping to represent Michigan’s 6th District.
While in Chicago for his residency, Longjohn served as the founding director of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, a childhood obesity-prevention program. At the time, First Lady Michelle Obama served on the board of the foundation that supported the group. So Longjohn says his work helped inform Michelle Obama’s "Let’s Move" campaign.
Longjohn is the Democratic candidate running against Republican incumbent Fred Upton. Longjohn has criticized Upton for his positive rating with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and his efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
Elaine Luria, who is running for a House seat in Virginia’s 2nd District, joined the US Navy when she was 17. She spent 20 years operating nuclear reactors as a nuclear engineer and Navy commander.
The nuclear engineer was deployed six times, at one point commanding a ship with 400 crew members that patrolled the Persian Gulf for hostile Iranian ships. Virginia’s 2nd District, where Luria is running, is home to the world’s largest Navy base.
Luria also launched Mermaid Factory, a business that manufactures mermaid and dolphin gift items for local customers, after retiring from the Navy last year.
Her opponent is Republican incumbent Scott Taylor.
Kim Schrier, a pediatrician, launched her own practice more than 15 years ago. She is running for Congress in Washington's 8th District.
Schrier is passionate about healthcare and was drawn to a career in medicine after visiting doctors’ offices due to her Type 1 diabetes.
A Democrat, Schrier aims to be the first female doctor in Congress. In Washington’s 8th District, she is running against Republican Dino Rossi, who previously served in the state senate.
Naughton said it is important for Congress to gain more members like Schrier who have a deep understanding of the healthcare field.
"Having people with those perspectives in elected office would really bring a much more nuanced and productive conversation to the healthcare debate," Naughton said.
Hiral Tipirneni, an emergency room physician, is running in Arizona’s 8th District.
Tipirneni, who immigrated to the US from India at age 3, served as chief resident of the emergency medicine program at the University of Michigan. She left emergency medicine to focus on cancer research after losing her mother and nephew to the disease.
Now Tipirneni (a Democrat) is trying to flip a district that President Donald Trump won by 20 points in 2016. Her opponent, Republican Debbie Lesko, previously served in the Arizona state senate and won a special election for the House seat earlier this year.
Tipirneni is currently on the board of directors at the Maricopa Health Foundation, a nonprofit that supports public healthcare in her county.
Registered nurse Lauren Underwood was appointed to serve as senior adviser at the US Department of Health and Human Services under President Barack Obama. She is running in Illinois’ 14th District.
In her role in the Obama administration, Underwood focused on preventing and responding to bio-terror threats, public-health emergencies, and other disasters.
In her campaign, Underwood has focused on expanding access to healthcare, noting her own pre-existing condition: an irregular heart rhythm. A Democrat, she's running against Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren.
Naughton highlighted Underwood's work in healthcare, saying her perspective would be valuable in Congress.
"Healthcare is something that every single one of us uses, or will use at some point," Naughton said. "Taking it out of a ridiculous partisan talking point and really thinking about the delivery, as well as the impact that it has on our economy in a thoughtful way, I think is very important for all of us."
Jeff Van Drew, who has been a dentist for more than 35 years, is a New Jersey state senator. He is running in the state's 2nd District.
In New Jersey's state senate, Van Drew sponsored legislation to help children with dyslexia, preserve farmland, and stop offshore drilling on the coast.
Rep. Frank LoBiondo, who currently represents New Jersey's 2nd District, is retiring, so Van Drew — a Democrat — is going up against Republican attorney Seth Grossman.
If elected, Van Drew has said his biggest focus will be increasing the number of jobs in New Jersey.
“Thousands of people in the district lost their jobs during Atlantic City’s downsizing, and the region is still feeling the ripple effects," Van Drew says on his website. "I want to ensure that reforms to the nation’s tax structure, health insurance system, and trade policies are beneficial to South Jersey families and business owners, which will require ongoing vigilance and attention to detail.”
As is clear from this list, all of the candidates that 314 Action is supporting nationally this year are Democrats. But Naughton says that's not a requirement for support from her PAC. "I would love to see the Republican scientist that could win their primary on a pro-science agenda," she said. "Bring me the unicorn."
"It's not a statement about science, it's a statement about what the Republican party has come to tolerate within their ranks, and even on their platform," Naughton added.
