Among various other neglected topics in the current federal administration, breaking concerns in the science and technology fields are often not addressed properly. With only one Ph.D. scientist currently in Congress, more government officials with scientific backgrounds would probably benefit us all in the long run. Luckily, in the near future, we may see more of these people. HuffPost reports that more than 60 researchers and technologists are running for federal office in 2018, while at least 200 people with backgrounds in the STEM industry plan to run for state legislature positions this year. These figures mark the largest number of scientists to campaign for public office in modern history.
The data comes from political action committee 314 Action, which is led by STEM employees and political activists “committed to electing more STEM candidates to office, advocating for evidence-based policy to issues like climate change and fighting the Trump administration’s attacks on science.” The nearly four-year-old group has also reportedly encouraged 200 other people to run for school board boards. The movement’s goal is to elect more scientists to join physicist and Democratic Rep. Bill Foster in Congress.
NEW: The largest number the science and tech candidates in modern U.S. history are running in 2018, according to @314action.
-more than 60 federal
-200 state legislature
-200 school boards
-plus another 500 considering runshttps://t.co/sPj4zVphRf— Alexander Kaufman (@AlexCKaufman) February 3, 2018
Now publicly endorsing 16 candidates for the House of Representatives, 314 Action has most recently announced its support of Brian Forde, who served as a senior technology adviser during President Barack Obama’s tenure. Forde aims to defeat Republican Rep. Mimi Walters, who often votes against climate change legislation while representing California’s 45th Congressional District.
.@314action, the group working to elect scientists to Congress, announces another endorsement in California: @BrianForde running against @RepMimiWalters in CA45 pic.twitter.com/M5byorLSX2
— Christine Mai-Duc (@cmaiduc) February 2, 2018
Under the leadership of 314 Action founder Shaughnessy Naughton, the group raised $2 million in 2017 and strives to earn $5 to 7 million during the upcoming election campaign. Speaking to HuffPost, Naughton said of the endorsed candidates, “These are not people that envision themselves as politicians and build a resumé around that. These are people that are genuinely outraged and concerned by the direction the country is going in, especially in this administration and this Congress. It seems that time has really come.”
With so many college students pursuing careers in science, we’re thrilled to see that their professional predecessors are working hard to inspire them in their future goals.