PAs Win State Legislative Races, Bringing Clinical Experience to Public Office

25 PAs ran for federal, state, and local office across 18 states in 2026. Six won state legislative seats, and others secured local offices.

November 6, 2026

PAs around the country are heeding the call for more clinical voices in elected office.

Six PA candidates won state legislative seats in Montana, North Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, Michigan, and Iowa in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, according to reported results. PAs also secured local offices, including a city council seat in Sebastian, Florida, while additional state and local races remained unresolved. In total, 25 PAs sought office across 18 states during the 2026 election cycle. Their campaigns spanned Congress, state legislatures, mayoral offices, city councils, school boards, and a fire district board. 

PAs running for elected office is vital to ensure the profession’s experience informs decisions at every level of government and is present along MDs, NPs, and other providers currently in elected office.  

Collectively, PA candidates brought decades of clinical experience to their campaigns, spanning rural primary care, emergency medicine, pediatrics, pulmonology, orthopedics, and cardiothoracic care. Their backgrounds also include military medicine, emergency response, and faculty roles in PA education.

“The experience PAs bring from caring for patients belongs in policy conversations,” said AAPA President and Chair of the Board Dave Bunnell, PhD, PA-C, DFAAPA. “PAs understand the needs of their community and what it takes for healthcare teams to meet patient needs. I commend all 25 PAs who stepped forward to run and brought that perspective to voters.”

Two PA incumbents and four newcomers win seats in state legislatures 

• Montana: Representative Jodee Etchart, a pulmonology PA at Billings Clinic, won reelection to House District 51. 

• North Carolina: Senator Mark Hollo, who spent four decades as a PA, served on the faculty of Lenoir-Rhyne University’s PA program, and served as a PA in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, won reelection to Senate District 45. 

• Vermont: Will Hoser, an emergency medicine PA who served on the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, defeated the incumbent in the Windsor–Windham House district. 

• West Virginia: Chris Tipton, a PA with Southern West Virginia Health System whose background includes work as a paramedic and volunteer firefighter, won the District 33 seat in the House of Delegates. 

• Michigan: Anna Aho Rink, who previously worked as a PA at a reproductive health clinic in Marquette, won House District 109.  

• Iowa: Mandy Newton Rosenow, won Iowa’s House District 46. Her more than 20 years in healthcare include a decade caring for patients at a federally qualified health center in Des Moines and experience in primary care, emergency medicine, and neurology. 

PAs are leading in two unresolved state house races  

Three PAs are leading in state House races that remained uncalled at the time of this publishing. In Alaska, Representative Andrew Gray, an incumbent who served as a PA in the Army National Guard, is leading in the state’s 20th House District. In Washington, Representative Matt Marshall, an incumbent who has worked in orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, and orthopedic urgent care is leading in the 2nd District.

PA candidates drew support in other state and congressional races 

In Idaho, Heather S. Lewis, a rural PA and former Army National Guard combat medic, earned nearly 40% of the vote in her state House bid as an independent challenger. Other PA candidates who fell short in state House races included Candace Schutt, a PA in Seneca, South Carolina; Randall Gauvin, a former paramedic and emergency department PA in Farmington, Maine; and Jackson Simpkins, an emergency medicine PA and former Navy hospital corpsman and EMT who ran in Kentucky’s 62nd District. Wyoming Representative Darin McCann, an orthopedic PA with military experience, concluded his reelection bid after the primary.

PAs also sought seats in in the U.S. Congress. In North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District, Ashley Bell, a practicing PA and PA educator, trailed the incumbent by about one percentage point in reported returns, compared with the incumbent’s 19-point victory in 2024. Ron Eller, a cardiothoracic PA and retired U.S. Army officer, fell short in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District. And earlier this cycle, Kishla Askins concluded her campaign for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District after the Democratic primary.

PAs also sought leadership roles in local office 

Nine PAs sought local office across eight states, bringing healthcare experience to campaigns for city government, school boards, and emergency services.

According to AAPA’s tracking, retired PA Deborah Shellenberger won a seat on Florida’s Sebastian City Council, and Elizabeth Hedlund, a PA and incumbent board member, won reelection to Minnesota’s Owatonna School Board.

In California, Jim Reape, a PA and nurse practitioner, ran for mayor of Turlock, while incumbent Councilmember Kevin Bixel, a PA with experience in urgent care, sought reelection in District 1.  In Nebraska, Nikki Pfeil, a PA and pediatric practice co-owner, was appointed to the Hastings Public Schools Board in August and also appeared on the November ballot. Elisabeth Motsinger, a family medicine PA, sought an at-large seat on North Carolina’s Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board. In Arizona, Donald Wetter, a PA and former U.S. Public Health Service officer, ran for the Blue Ridge Fire District Board. Election outcomes for these candidates are awaiting verification at this time.

Other local candidates included Danielle Walker, a PA with 20 years of experience who did not advance from the August primary for Florida’s Jackson County School Board, District 5, and Lucinda Henry, a pediatric PA who ran a campaign for Brazoria County judge in Texas.

A growing profession brings experience to statehouses 

The increase of PAs running for office is an important trend, and AAPA is actively encouraging more PAs to consider making this commitment to public service. The PA profession is one of the fastest-growing healthcare careers, and its growth is increasingly visible in both healthcare and public policy. PAs care for patients in settings ranging from rural clinics to major medical centers. Those elected this year will bring that experience to statehouses as lawmakers weigh changes to practice laws, interstate licensure, and investments in the healthcare workforce. 

For the PAs taking office in the next legislative session, that means a role in writing the laws that help determine where healthcare teams can work and how readily patients can get care.

For PAs considering office 

Check out AAPA’s resource, How to Run for Elected Office: A Practical Guide for First-Time Candidates or reach out to [email protected] for more support. And if you or a PA you know ran for office this year and is not included in this overview, please let us know.  

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