History of DemDocs

In 2004, Dr. Howard Dean lifted many physicians from their political apathy and rallied them to political action. Borne out of Dean’s run from the presidency were a group of doctors who became increasingly politically active. Former Doctors for Dean started DemDocs. A central goal of DemDocs was to achieve health care for all. To achieve this end, DemDocs realized that the House and Seante neede to be controlled by polticans with similar policy priorities. Thus DemDocs focused on winning back the House and the Senate. In 2004, the organization's first foray into campaigning was in South Dakota. 16 medical students and physicians from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. campaigned in the special congressional election in South Dakota for Stephanie Herseth. With Herseth’s win, DemDocs had created an infrastructure and strong base of support that the group leveraged into a national campaign for Congressional races in the fall of 2004. In November of 2004 DemDocs put dozens of medical students, nurses and physicians in races across the country. They sent 30 medical students in Alaska to campaign for the senate race. DemDocs sent medical students, physicians, and nurses to Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Kentucky, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. After their huge turnout in 2004, DemDocs became a nationally recognized political organization.