IREHR

In addition to the 29 MAHA-endorsed primary victories, MAHA groups have endorsed an additional 9 candidates for the 2026 general election. How many of these candidates will be asked about their anti-vaccine track records on the campaign trail this fall?

Moreover, many MAHA-endorsed candidates already had a history of far-right activism. IREHR identified 18 of them in Tea Party groups, 12 in COVID-era anti-mandate groups, 6 in far-right parents' rights groups, and 4 in anti-abortion groups.

MAHA did not build this bench. In the 14 states where MAHA made 40 endorsements, the anti-vaccine group Stand for Health Freedom (SHF) endorsed 281. In KY alone: MAHA 5, SHF 26. Half the state slate was already endorsed by SHF. Several state-level anti-vaxx groups also endorsed.

The MAHA money didn't follow the anti-vaxxer litmus test. 95% of all spending went to races where the MAHA-backed candidate had no anti-vaccine record. 26 of the 29 primary winners received nothing. This was endorsing likely winners, then counting the wins.

Just before primary, MAHA PAC spent $20,000 on Michael Alfonso in WI-7. He is the 26-year-old son-in-law of reality TV-star turned Transport. Sec, Sean Duff. MAHA Action called him “A strong defender of Medical Freedom, Nutritional Reform, Food Freedom, and Parental Rights”

92.7% of it went into one Louisiana Senate primary to defeat GOP Senator Bill Cassidy: $486,813 against him, $209,083 for Julia Letlow. More was spent against one man than supporting every other endorsed candidate combined. Cassidy chaired the Senate health committee. He lost.

Now, to follow the money. MAHA PAC spent $750,572 across the 2026 primary cycle — 39 expenditures. One competitive US House race routinely sees more than that from a single outside group. The first thing to know about MAHA's money is that it's far less than promised.

Ohio HB 561 would repeal hepatitis B vaccine requirements for daycares and compel schools to admit unvaccinated students during an outbreak. Testifying for it: the president of Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, herself a MAHA-endorsed candidate.

MAHA candidates with anti-vaxx legislation also in Kentucky. HB 469 bars any human gene therapy product for an infectious disease "regardless of whether the administration is termed an immunization, vaccine, or any other term." 3 MAHA candidates co-sponsored it. All 3 won.

Two more Texas laws: written informed consent before any COVID-19 vaccination, and a ban on private employers requiring one, with fines to $50,000. The author of the employer ban is now the Republican nominee for Attorney General.

Texas is where endorsements echoed statute. MAHA-endorsed candidates pushed a law letting parents download exemption forms at home. It passed during the worst US measles outbreak since 2000 — 728 cases, two child deaths. Its author called it a bill about printing.

The 16 MAHA primary losses are a pipeline, not a rejection. All 16 have anti-vaccine records. 14 have never held office. Two of the losers lead state anti-vaccine organizations. First-time candidates who come close often run again. That's a 2028 list to watch.

The MAHA losses are concentrated. Ohio accounts for 27% of endorsements and 38% of all losses. Take Ohio out and the record goes from 64% to over 70%—which is mostly a warning about reading a national win rate at all.

The 64% winning percentage is softer than it looks. All 14 same-office MAHA-backed incumbents won their primary. Candidates who had never held office won 9 of 23. Incumbents generally win primaries about 90% of the time, regardless of who endorses them.

The other MAHA 501c4, MAHA Action, limited its endorsements to federal and gubernatorial races. All eight of their endorsed candidates won their primaries, including Brandon Herrera, "the AK guy."

All 37 state-level candidates backed by MAHA Institute-winners and losers alike-have a documented anti-vaccine record. At the state level, endorsement works as a litmus test. It's all about building an anti-vaccine bench of politicians. The food and wellness stuff is camouflage.

They barely overlap. The Institute works CO GA KS KY MT NC NV OH PA TN TX. MAHA Action works FL IA LA MI NH TX WI. Texas is the only state both touch. Sixteen of the seventeen heard from one group only — so the first question in your state is which one is operating there.

Two groups, one brand. MAHA Institute: 37 state-level primaries, 11 states, 21–16, $0 from the PAC. MAHA Action: 8 federal and governor primaries, 8–0, and every PAC dollar. One screens on anti-vaccine politics. The other on winnable seats.

@IREHR tracked every 2026 primary endorsement made by national Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) groups: 45 primaries across 17 states. The headline: 29 of 45 primaries won, 64%. The finding underneath it: MAHA groups are running a split federal/state electoral operation.

Since RFK Jr. was speaking to his anti-vaccine group today to downplay measles deaths and attack vaccines, it seems like a good time to evaluate how his MAHA network fared in the 2026 primaries. (thread)