By Liz Essley Whyte and Sabrina Siddiqui

WASHINGTON -- Allies of President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are looking to the Make America Healthy Again movement to boost Republicans' prospects in next year's midterm elections, even as some Democrats perceive Kennedy as a weakness they plan to exploit.

MAHA leaders are set to use their agenda to shore up support for the GOP among independent voters who might otherwise be tempted to vote blue -- or stay home. Some polls show only about a third of independents approve of Trump's job performance while a majority of them disapprove. To that end, some Republicans have said Kennedy's message on ultraprocessed food -- more popular in polling than his actions on vaccines -- will be needed to lift the party next year, after big losses in the recent New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections.

"I hope this is a big warning shot to everyone running in 2026, that they better be talking about MAHA," said Vani Hari, a Make America Healthy Again activist known as the Food Babe. "People who had lost hope, like myself, people who gave up on politics, got back in the game when Secretary Kennedy was confirmed."

About four in 10 parents identify as supporters of the MAHA movement, according to an October survey from the health-research nonprofit KFF of more than 2,700 parents. That includes one in six Democratic parents and one-third of independent parents.

"You NEED to engage MAHA to win as a Republican in the current era," Jack Posobiec, a MAGA influencer, wrote in an X post on Wednesday, a day after this week's elections. "Understand how the 2024 coalition won."

Some people in Kennedy's orbit said the midterms also represent an opportunity for him. If his MAHA agenda is seen as boosting the party in 2026, it could mean more policy sway for Kennedy at the White House, as well as providing more fuel for MAHA-related bills in Republican-led state legislatures, these people said.

It could also open the door for what some Kennedy supporters have said they want: for him to serve in the role of health secretary for as much as eight years, assuming Republicans retain the White House in 2028.

"Americans in every community, from every political background, want a healthier future -- Secretary Kennedy is delivering it," Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesman, said.

Healthcare typically shows up in polling as a weakness for Republicans, who have struggled over the past decade with failed attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The MAHA agenda gives GOP candidates a set of health priorities to discuss, backers of the movement said, especially if politicians emphasize Kennedy's messages on ultraprocessed food, fitness and the dangers of phones in schools.

A political-action committee led by former Kennedy campaign staffers is working to endorse state-level candidates who promise to support MAHA policies, such as more-robust food-labeling requirements.

"MAHA are not die-hard Republicans," said Jeff Hutt, a spokesman for the committee. "They're not going to come out and vote just because a Republican is on the ticket. They're going to have to have policies that fit in with what MAHA is looking for."

Many Trump administration officials including Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, and Vince Haley, director of the Domestic Policy Council, are regarded as MAHA stalwarts, according to people close to the administration.

Several surveys have signaled that Kennedy could handicap Republicans if his vaccine policy, not his healthy-eating initiative, becomes a dominant issue next year.

A pair of polls in the past two months found that a majority of voters disapprove of how Kennedy has handled his role. And while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see vaccinating their children as a personal choice, a majority of U.S. parents continue to support school-vaccination requirements.

This week's elections, though centered on economic affordability, hinted at how Democrats would pinpoint Kennedy as a GOP weakness. In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, who won the election for governor, sought to tie her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, to Kennedy by emphasizing the importance of routine childhood vaccinations.

Other aspects of Kennedy's agenda, such as improving nutrition, enjoy bipartisan support in polls.

"Whether RFK Jr. is a plus or a minus depends a lot on which aspects of the MAHA agenda you're talking about," said a Republican pollster, Whit Ayres.

Some MAHA supporters would like to see Kennedy remain HHS secretary in the next presidential administration, eager to see eight years of his influence on food and drug policy.

"When President Trump is re-elected in 2028, I would love to see Bobby Kennedy there," said Katie Miller, a podcaster and former White House aide who is the wife of Stephen Miller. While Trump had said he would "love" to campaign for a third term as president, he recently acknowledged that the Constitution prohibits him from doing so.

Others, including the Infowars host Alex Jones, have said they want Kennedy to run for president himself. Kennedy has said that isn't his plan. "Let me be clear: I am not running for president in 2028," he posted on X in August.

Kennedy's presidential campaign account is still active and as recently as September paid for research and administrative consulting, according to federal election records. A representative for the campaign said it would be closed by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, a political-action committee that supported Kennedy's 2024 presidential run had more than $4 million in cash as of June. The MAHA PAC is led by a Kennedy ally and book publisher, Tony Lyons.

A separate nonprofit led by Lyons hosts frequent webinars with celebrities and MAHA influencers to shore up support for Kennedy's policy priorities.

It is seeking corporate donations between $250,000 and $1 million for sponsorships of a conference next week at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., with Kennedy and other top HHS officials expected to attend, according to people familiar with the matter and a document viewed by The Wall Street Journal that described the sponsorship opportunities. Lyons said all of the nonprofit's fundraising goes to "further the MAHA mission."

"Embracing MAHA is just this incredible gift to the Republican party, and they have to accept it," Lyons said. "If they don't, they're kind of doing that at their peril."

Write to Liz Essley Whyte at liz.whyte@wsj.com and Sabrina Siddiqui at sabrina.siddiqui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 06, 2025 21:00 ET (02:00 GMT)

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