Democratic Senate candidates split on Medicare for All ahead of midterms

WSJ poll: top three healthcare policies drew 80%+ support across parties

Aaron Zitner of The Wall Street Journal framed Medicare for All as “a defining policy fight within the Democratic Party” in his Politics newsletter, writing that it has become “a measuring stick of how far to the left the party wants to move.” Two Democratic Senate candidates took opposing positions in separate Sunday appearances. Troy Jackson, the party’s candidate in Maine, told a rowdy rally: “I want Medicare for All.” That evening, Annie Andrews, the party’s candidate in South Carolina, said in a televised debate: “To set the record straight, I don’t support Medicare for All.”

As a presidential candidate in 2020, Joe Biden said he would veto any Medicare for All bill as too costly and disruptive. Then-candidate Kamala Harris, an early supporter of the policy, soon softened her position.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, defines Medicare for All as a government-run, single-payer system that would overtake most private insurance.

This year, Democratic socialists and others on the party’s left flank are calling for Medicare for All. In many of the competitive states and districts now represented by Republicans, the Democrats trying to flip those seats are taking a more centrist position, akin to Biden’s. They say they would work to boost subsidies under the Affordable Care Act so that more people could buy private insurance. Some would allow more people to opt in to Medicare — a measure shy of Medicare for All as Sanders defines it.

A recent Wall Street Journal poll tested public support for more than 30 policy ideas and found that the three most popular had to do with healthcare. The most popular ideas — drawing more than 80% support among both parties and independents — were banning surprise medical bills, capping drug prices, and requiring insurers to cover the services that doctors prescribe.

Medicare for All wasn’t among them. The poll found that only 23% of Republicans supported the policy — a caution for any candidate who needs some measure of Republican support to win in November.

Zitner’s report, written for the paper’s Politics newsletter while he is filling in for Damian Paletta and edited with Joe Haberstroh and Mali Michelle Fleming, also flagged several other Washington developments of the day. Trump said the new White House press secretary would hold her first briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET. The president is scheduled to travel to Wasilla, Alaska, where he will hold a midterm rally at 6:30 p.m. ET. Later he is scheduled to leave Alaska and stay overnight in Las Vegas. Trump said he is “looking at” firing his ambassador to Greece after revelations that she asked a donor to cover personal expenses in the lead-up to her confirmation hearing.

Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in Washington, D.C., as part of a criminal investigation. The probe is immigration-related, said a person familiar with the matter. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, has long been a top target for attacks from Trump and conservatives.

A federal judge overseeing litigation challenging Trump’s plan to overhaul a Washington, D.C., public golf course scolded the administration for cutting down hundreds of trees around East Potomac Golf Links on short notice over the weekend, saying it violated her instructions. On Monday, she temporarily barred further tree removal and said the government had lost credibility.

The newsletter also reported that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in the hard-fought Texas Senate race, attended a New Year’s Eve 2024 celebration in Dubai with two fugitives from U.S. justice and a woman who was not his wife, according to a video of the gathering reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, details of which were contained in court filings and confirmed by people familiar with the matter. Trump endorsed Paxton over incumbent Texas Sen. John Cornyn this spring although he was told that damaging revelations were likely to surface about Paxton, according to people familiar with the conversations. Trump was dismissive, saying there would be more negative material about Democratic nominee James Talarico.