National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, released the following statement on midterm election results:

The “blue wave” of Democrat wins in the midterm elections was a thunderous rebuke of the fascist Trump administration and its billionaire-class agenda of war and militarism, attacks on public health, and unregulated artificial intelligence. Working-class people across the United States are fed up, and we have raised our voices and stood in our collective power to demand real change.

This election was a complete rejection by working people of pro-corporate, dark-money, business-as-usual policies and a political system that the billionaires have rigged against the working class. Establishment Democrats are now put on notice that we are committed to holding the entire Democratic party accountable, now that it controls both the House and the Senate, for advancing transformational, popular legislation for working people. 

Last night, we saw win after win for candidates who champion Medicare for All, getting money out of politics, ending war and our complicity in genocide, and putting people above profit. Despite extreme efforts at the federal level to try to divide us, we also saw historic wins from a diverse array of candidates, including the first Black woman and first Native American woman governors in U.S. history, and the first openly gay and first Muslim U.S. senators in our nation’s history. Just as nurses know we must stand in unbreakable solidarity during our union elections, voters yesterday refused attempts by the billionaire class to vilify entire groups of people in an effort to undermine our movement. The link that tied all these candidates together was a shared commitment to uplifting the humanity and common good of working people over the greed of the billionaire class.  

Over the past two years, we have endured attacks on our immigrant patients, ICE terror in our hospitals and communities, attacks on our union rights, massive cuts to public health care just to fund war and billionaire tax breaks, dangerous A.I. rammed through to benefit corporations, and an administration that completely tramples democracy and the rule of law. The hard-working people of the United States are now rising up to take this country back.

Democrats can start by repealing H.R. 1, the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” immediately to stop its impending cuts to health care and its funding for war, ICE, and billionaire tax breaks. They must also pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act to restore collective bargaining rights for VA nurses; pass the PRO Act to strengthen workers’ rights to join a union; commit to abolishing ICE by passing Rep. Ramirez’s Reimagining Safety Act; and take the first step toward solving this health care crisis by passing Medicare for All.

These are day-one priorities. Union nurses and workers across the country have given a mandate to the Democratic majority to take strong action to protect the working class, and we will not accept any lip service. NNU has called for getting rid of the U.S. Senate’s filibuster rule to allow the Democratic majority to deliver for working-class people, and we reiterate our position. This new Democratic majority will begin their process in the coming weeks to decide whom they trust to lead the 120th Congress and deliver on the bold and transformative changes voters demanded at the polls. As experienced militant trade unionists, we know the power we wield at the bargaining table and in holding elected leaders accountable. We urge all Democratic members of Congress to do the same when casting your vote for the next Democratic leadership. 

Nurses are fighting to achieve our Vision for a Healthy Society where everyone has what we need to live a good life, including guaranteed health care with Medicare for All, affordable housing, good union jobs, a livable planet, and safe communities. This is the standard against which we will measure all elected officials and their actions and policies. They can expect to see nurses and our allies advocating for our vision in their offices, speaking out in our communities, taking the streets, and standing up everywhere our voice can make a difference until we finally win the healthy, just future we and our patients need and deserve.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.