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Democratic congresswoman starts Medicare for All PAC

Rep. Pramila Jayapal is starting a PAC to raise money for congressional candidates who support Medicare for All. Photo: JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), one of the co-chairs of the House's Medicare for All caucus, is starting a PAC to raise money for congressional candidates who support the issue, per Huffington Post.

Why it matters: Single-payer health care is no longer a far-fetched fantasy of the left. It's now part of the Democratic Party's identity in the Trump era.

The big picture: 20% of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) "Red to Blue" candidates support Medicare for All, Jayapal told HuffPost.

  • It has been a winning issue for Democrats running in congressional races from Pennsylvania to Kentucky.
  • With only two months until the midtersms, this can only be so helpful for candidates running this cycle, but Jayapal said she hopes the PAC helps Democrats in 2020.
  • Jayapal said Democrats' best shot at victory in November is to continue campaigning on similar issues, but Republicans are tying Democrats in competitive races to Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a way to weaponize Medicare for All ahead of the election.

The bottom line: “People are cautious about this sometimes because they don’t have all the information,” Jayapal told HuffPost. “And I really hope that the PAC serves not only as a source of financial support, but that we can help candidates to feel comfortable talking about the issue.”

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2018 midterm elections