Message from the President

Why don’t more scientists in the U.S. run for political office?

In many nations, scientists have risen to the very highest levels of political power. For example, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the current President of Mexico, has a PhD in energy engineering and was a high-level researcher before getting into politics. The last 3 Presidents of China (Xi Jinping, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin) all have backgrounds in engineering. Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the past century, and Angela Merkel, the long-serving Prime Minister of Germany, both had serious careers as chemists before politics came calling.

In the U.S., previous generations of scientists have often held the view that science should remain above the fray in politics. However, this mindset within the scientific community hasn’t stopped science from being politicized over the past few decades. Thus, the new generation of up-and-coming scientists has taken a different approach.

In 2018, with science under attack in the U.S., a record number of scientists (7) were elected to the 435-member House of Representatives. These elected representatives included biochemists, physicists and engineers. Some of these scientist-leaders are still in office, but obviously they represent a tiny minority in Congress.

As we enter 2026, science is again under attack in the U.S., and we may again see a surge in scientists running for office. Some are running because they’ve been pushed out of their positions by the current administration, including former leaders of the CDC and USDA. Shaughnessy Naughton, a pharmaceutical researcher who is now the President of 3.14 Action (a group dedicated to helping scientists get elected) has said that she’s seen a massive increase in applications for candidate training this year.

Of course, scientists don’t have to run for national offices to make a difference. Getting elected to local offices like state senate, city council or school board can allow scientists to make big differences in their local communities while still pursuing their scientific careers. Similarly, serving in leadership positions in scientific societies can help to get scientists politically involved. As the current President of ASPET, I can tell you that it’s been very rewarding this year being involved in the extensive science advocacy efforts that ASPET and our fellow societies have been pursuing.

Our democracy is meant to be representative. Yet only 4% of the U.S. Congress comes from STEM backgrounds, which is not representative of the fact that STEM occupations make up 23% of the total U.S. workforce. And let’s face it, our government would probably function more efficiently if more of our representatives had a clue about how to analyze data.

For all of these reasons, I salute all the scientists out there who are running for political office!

Sincerely,