Mortality rates remain higher in states that supported Trump, highlighting political health divide in 2024

The UCSF team behind the article notes that health care ranks as the third most important issue for voters in the 2026 midterm election cycle.

They found that, after adjusting for age differences, mortality in states that voted for Donald Trump in 2024 was roughly 19% higher than in states that backed Kamala Harris.

The authors point out that this political mortality gap is a relatively new phenomenon, having been only about 2% in 2001, and argue that the Make America Healthy Again agenda must focus on the drivers behind these disparities.