Bitter fight over health care hits Democratic Senate primaries

Axios – Friday, December 19, 2025
By Stephen Neukam

Democratic candidates across the country are reigniting an old, bitter debate over “Medicare for All.”

Why it matters: Medicare for All fractured Democrats in the 2016 and 2020 presidential primaries. Now it’s starting to do the same in Senate races.

Party leaders like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) want to make the midterms a referendum on affordability and health care.

But top progressives view the 2026 primaries as a critical opportunity to remake their case for Medicare for All ahead of 2028.

Zoom in: In Maine, progressive Graham Platner supports Medicare for All. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, the pick of party leaders, has called on Congress to extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Mills has also said she supports a universal health care care plan, “whether you call it Medicare for All or something else.”
Progressive Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan has backed Medicare for All for years. In that primary, Mallory McMorrow has bashed Medicare for All but supports a public option. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) also does not support Medicare for All, instead calling for strengthening the ACA.

In Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who has the support of national progressives, is backing Medicare for All. Rep. Angie Craig supports a public option but not Medicare for All.

Between the lines: For progressives, the Senate primaries are ground zero for the latest chapter of their fight for a single-payer health care system.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told Axios this week that “the opportunity now is to prove aggressively that Medicare for All is right.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has caught the eye of progressive groups and grassroots, told Axios this week that Democrats’ “next step is to stop tinkering with a broken system.” He recently cosponsored a Medicare for All bill in the Senate.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to add Mills’ comments on universal health care.

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