**Inside Democrats’ Effort to Attack RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Moves Without Angering His Base**
*By Alice Miranda Ollstein | Politico | November 15, 2025*
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a former nurse and CDC epidemic intelligence service officer running for governor, has called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign. She told POLITICO that she has encountered many voters worried about losing access to vaccines due to his policies.
Amy Acton, the former head of the Ohio Health Department who is also running for governor, cited conversations with voters who are “very, very scared of the reckless, chaotic health decisions being made” by Kennedy.
Several Democrats say that even when they don’t proactively bring up Kennedy in press releases, speeches, or conversations while knocking on doors, voters do it for them.
“It’s remarkable to me the number of people who randomly come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for standing up to RFK Jr.,’” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who is running for reelection.
Annie Andrews, a pediatrician challenging Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), noted that while voters are more focused on rising health insurance costs than Kennedy’s vaccine moves, she still feels an obligation to address the issue.
“RFK Jr. has only been in this position for less than 11 months, but the damage he has done already will take us decades, as health care professionals and public health professionals, to recover from even if he were to resign today,” Andrews said.
Some candidates, including Mark Downey, a pediatrician who won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates last week, have found that speaking out against Kennedy is a net positive, even if it alienates some Make American Healthy Again acolytes.
“I’ve had people ask me what I think of RFK Jr., and when I say, ‘I disagree with a lot of his statements and policies,’ some people…” *(Excerpt)*
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*Read more at politico.com.*
**Topics:** Politics, Elections
**Keywords:** Vaccines, RFK Jr., Democratic Party, Public Health, Elections 2025
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