POLITICAL PRACTITIONERS — There are plenty of doctors in the House — and the Senate. There have even been a few in governors’ mansions. Nurses? Not so much. But that might change, thanks to efforts designed to increase the number of nurses running for elected office at local, state, and federal levels. “We [nurses] have sort of a common bond,” said Lisa Summers, a nurse midwife turned advocate. “We understand health care. We have a set of skills as nurses that we think could be applied to public office, aside from party.” Summers founded a nonpartisan organization called Healing Politics along with Kimberly Gordon, a nurse anesthetist, in an attempt to encourage nurses to run for office and help them to acquire the practical political skills they need to win and serve. The group doesn’t ask applicants to their campaign school for party affiliation — nurses take care of all kinds of people, from all social classes, all political persuasions, and many say that perspective means they don’t fall into partisan bubbles. “To treat all kinds of people we have to listen and respect all kinds of people from all walks of life,” said Jenny Schmitt, a nurse anesthetist running for Oklahoma state Senate as a Republican. She doesn’t see herself as a newbie “politician” but rather as someone going into public service — which is what she also considers nursing. Those traits are especially useful at a time of political polarization. “Nurses are particularly good at working from the middle of the aisle because we do it every day in our work, right? We work with people so different from ourselves,” said Gale Adcock, the sole nurse practitioner in the North Carolina Senate who has held local or state office for years and a Democrat who works with Healing Politics. “We just come with that skill set and we’re good with people. Nurses are trusted more than any other profession, numerous polls have shown . They tend to understand how broader social problems, like poverty and housing, affect health. Nurses, most of whom are women, also prioritize issues like schools and childcare. The time for more nurses in politics is right, if not overdue, said Sheila Burke, a nurse and nationally known health policy expert who never had a desire to run for office but held enormous sway in her years as chief of staff for the late U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, including when he was Senate Republican Leader. “Someone who has some knowledge of and engagement in the health care environment is enormously helpful in the legislative process and helping to find solutions that make sense,” Burke told Nightly. With trust in short supply in American politics these days, the experiences nurses bring to legislative bodies would be a welcome addition. “There’s no question that nurses rank higher than damn near anybody,” said Burke, though she noted that trust in a health setting may not fully transfer to the contentious political arena. The American Nurses Association, the leading professional group, doesn’t recruit candidates but it’s working with Summers and Gordon. “We do think that Healing Politics helps to drive nurses into running,” said Tim Nanot, the ANA’s VP of Government Affairs and Policy. Healing Politics started small, focusing on state and local offices, whether city council, state legislature, even the state railway commission. A few nurses are aiming at Congress this year, though some have already lost primaries. The current U.S. House has three nurses — two Democrats and one Republican. (None of their offices responded to a request for comment.) While a smattering of nurses have preceded them in Congress, no nurse has ever served in the Senate, or as governor — although Delaware’s lieutenant governor, a nurse, is running for the top job now. Nobody really keeps a good tally of nurses dipping their toes into these waters. But nurses who do hold office in the states are roughly split between Republicans and Democrats. They want a voice on health policy but also on problems that affect their profession — like workforce shortages or state rules on what nurses can do without direct supervision of a doctor. As they began Healing a few years ago, Summers and Gordon planned a campaign school to give nurses nuts and bolts training for the 2020 election cycle, but Covid pushed it off. For the 2024 races, they held the first school last year at Duke and plan the second for this spring. Not every nurse who attends is a potential candidate; some want to get politically involved without running themselves. Other nurse candidates attend campaign training through political parties, interest groups and nonprofits, though not specifically designed for nurses. A few candidates have plunged in (not necessarily successfully) without a course. Kristin Lyman Nabors, a kidney disease research nurse at Johns Hopkins Medical School who wears a nurse’s cap on her website, is among more than 20 Democrats – there are also about 10 Republicans – running for an open House seat in Maryland. At least two of her opponents are physicians; another is Harry Dunn, a Capitol police officer honored for heroism in the Jan. 6 riots. Her big issues are persistent racism and the toll of chronic disease. She knows the odds, but decided to shoot for the rare open congressional seat anyway. “If you want to launch big ships you have to go bold … To have this opportunity to run for Congress. I have to take it. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I wasn’t at least trying.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @JoanneKenen .
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