RFK Jr. Is Inspiring More STEM Candidates to Run. Will It Expand Democrats’ Map?

A PAC that’s recruited a record number of math and science professionals to run for office is looking for the Democratic Party’s attention.

314 Action is expanding its list of congressional race targets to include six districts it believes have been “overlooked.” Three of those races — Arkansas’ 2nd District, and Minnesota’s and Montana’s 1st districts — are not on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s target list.

“We really see this as helping expand the map for Democrats and the DCCC. They may not have these races on their list yet, but I think they’re going to be looking towards districts where there are strong candidates,” said Erik Polyak, the executive director of 314 Action.

The candidates in those races are Jake Johnson, a public school math teacher in Minnesota; Matt Rains, an engineer and rancher in Montana; and Chris Jones, a scientist and minister in Arkansas.

Other candidates on the PAC’s list include Jamie Ager in North Carolina’s 11th District, Darren McAuley in Florida’s 15th District and Bale Dalton in Florida’s 7th District.

The DCCC has expanded its map since releasing its initial list of “Districts in Play” in April. The party has expressed an eagerness to widen its map in light of Democrats’ sweep of wins in 2025 across Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and Virginia.

House Democrats’ campaign arm says its targets “will continue to grow because we have the momentum, the message, and the candidates to win anywhere,” spokesperson Aidan Johnson said. “And as the only committee dedicated solely to ensuring House Democrats are in the majority, we welcome all partners to help candidates with additional resources and support.”

314 Action is raising $25 million in 43 House races in hopes that its candidates will flip swing seats. The Democrats running in these districts will face uphill battles. All the contests 314 Action considers to be “sleeper” races are all in historically conservative places, where Republicans have up to an eight-point electoral advantage.

North Carolina’s 11th District, for example, was previously represented by arch conservatives Mark Meadows and Madison Cawthorn.

The National Republican Congressional Committee said Democrats were “stuck in political hallucination” for eyeing these races. “Our strong Republican members have humiliated Democrats cycle after cycle in these ruby red districts, and this November will be no different,” said NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella.

Still, the PAC also attributes its success recruiting to backlash against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and his apparent disregard of the scientific consensus around vaccines.

“RFK has been our greatest recruitment tool to get candidates on the ballot this year,” 314 Action spokesperson Eden Giagnorio said.

Rains, a rancher, and Ager, a North Carolina farmer, credited MAHA for the ways they’re encouraging nutrition.

“People being encouraged to be healthy is really good news,” Ager said. As long as voters can differentiate the candidates from the national party, Ager said he thinks he has a chance.

“The seat is winnable if we can get people to vote for the person over the party,” Ager said. “The Democratic brand is not strong in rural America.”

Rains said Kennedy’s support of the anti-vaccine movement isn’t landing everywhere.

“It is crazy and frustrating to know that everything that we have done over decades and decades of R&D and research is just being belittled by an administration that is scared to death of facts and truth,” said Matt Rains, running in Montana’s 1st District.

The PAC is encouraging candidates to run on rising health care costs, and connect rising prices to the overall affordability crisis Americans are facing.

The Mayo Clinic, located in Johnson’s district, closed four rural clinics last year. Farmers and customers in his district are also facing increased costs, in part due to the Trump administration’s tariffs, he said. Minnesota’s 1st District is one of the top 10 agriculture-producing districts in the country.

As a public school math teacher, Johnson also sees Trump policies affecting his classroom. He said some of his students are fearful of encountering Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on their way to school. He also saw how DOGE-inflicted federal layoffs and funding cuts at the Department of Education threatened services for students with disabilities.

His race is set against the backdrop of a tumultuous Minnesota, where an increasing ICE presence after the death of Renee Good has inspired local and national protests.

“This is ground zero for pushing back against this agenda,” Johnson said.