GOP gambles on midterm dividends from RFK Jr.’s MAHA

Less than three months ahead of the midterm elections, the main political organization supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement has barely made a splash to help boost Republican candidates.

President Trump and parts of the Republican Party have aligned his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement with MAHA and Kennedy, hoping to recapture a key piece of the broad coalition that helped Trump win the White House in 2024.

MAHA helped give Trump an important ally in Kennedy, a longtime Democrat before he endorsed Trump and joined his administration. That gave Republicans access to a new group of voters, which could be key to helping lift the party in a year where Trump’s ratings are underwater.

MAHA’s political leaders, most notably Kennedy ally Tony Lyons, have been working to show the White House that its MAHA outreach will pay dividends. If the MAHA coalition can be counted on as a reliable conservative voting bloc in November and keep Republicans in power, Trump would be able to prioritize more of Kennedy’s agenda.

Lyons runs the MAHA PAC, the primary political operation behind the MAHA movement, as well as its affiliated super PAC, MAHA Action. In March, he launched a $100 million fundraising campaign to elect MAHA-aligned, Trump-endorsed GOP candidates.

It was an ambitious undertaking. In the first half of 2025, prior to the Lyons pledge, the committee spent $3.8 million, and none if it went to candidates.

To date, MAHA PAC has raised about $2.4 million and has only about $287,000 cash on hand, according to the most recent campaign finance filings.

Lyons did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Most of the contributions to the PAC are small-dollar amounts from individual donors. To date in 2026, MAHA PAC has received over $1 million from just four donors.

Venni Capital, a New York investment firm linked to a generic drug manufacturer, gave two $50,000 donations.

Botanic Tonics, a kratom and kava beverage company, donated a total of $1 million to the PAC. According to reporting by the New York Times, Kennedy tried to discourage Ohio’s governor from moving forward with a crackdown on kratom products.

In addition, the Times found Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin holds a financial stake in the company that’s worth as much as $1 million.

Mark Mikhael, the CEO of a drug compounding company called Olympia Pharmaceuticals, donated $25,000. Mikhael joined the board of MAHA PAC in 2025.

And while MAHA PAC and MAHA Action have endorsed a slate of GOP candidates for Congress and in the states, barely any money has reached them.

The MAHA brand is strong, but the political organization has seemingly been unable to leverage that support into a significant financial machine for Republicans.

“MAHA doesn’t function best lining up with one political party over another,” said GOP strategist Liz Mair. “When I look at spread of incumbents who are interesting to MAHA voters, it’s not 100 percent Republicans.”

Jeff Hutt, who worked on Kennedy’s presidential campaign and was formerly involved with the PAC, said the small dollar donors were the heart and soul of Kennedy’s campaign. They were not necessarily Trump supporters or even Republicans.

But when Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, those voters listened.

“They believed in Bobby Kennedy and they believed in what he was doing. But you take Bobby Kennedy out of that equation, and you just put it on a select group of Republicans who are running under the MAHA title, I just don’t think the interest is really there,” Hutt said.

In races for House and Senate, MAHA groups have endorsed incumbent Republican Reps. Tom Barrett (Mich.), Julia Letlow (La.), and Scott Perry (Pa.), as well as Michael Alfonso in Wisconsin, Austin Rogers in Florida, and Brandon Herrera in Texas.

Perry and Barrett are considered battleground candidates, while Alfonso, Rogers and Herrera are pursuing solidly Republican House seats where the incumbent isn’t seeking reelection.

Letlow’s primary against Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) was one of the only campaigns MAHA PAC has spent substantial money, although the $700,000 was still short of the $1 million they pledged to spend.

Letlow also received Trump’s endorsement over fellow Republican and former Rep. John Fleming.

“MAHA PAC promised $100 million to help Republican candidates and has been practically nonexistent. The rest of the Republican coalition is working overtime to hold the House and Senate, but where is MAHA PAC?” said one GOP operative involved in the midterms. “They talked a big game, candidates aligned with them in good faith, and now three months out, they’ve got nothing to show for it.”

Hutt said the PAC’s endorsements have become a signal to the GOP establishment rather than the MAHA grassroots base.

“The telltale race that you did not see them get behind was the [Rep.] Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) race. If the PAC were going to stay true to their message and true to their support base, they would have come out strong in support of Thomas Massie,” Hutt said. “But the reluctance to do so or to get in on that campaign really showed to me that they’re promoting candidates that are aligned with the Trump White House.”

The MAHA movement is not a singular bloc, and there are different factions with priorities that don’t necessarily translate neatly into partisan camps. Some members prioritize changes to the food supply, some want tighter chemical and pesticide regulation, and some want to eliminate vaccine mandates.

MAHA activists have been growing increasing disillusioned with the Trump administration’s policies, and some prominent voices have been warning that when the November elections come around, MAHA voters may stay home.

“The [MAHA] endorsement itself won’t probably move the needle, but if they put a lot of money publicizing the endorsements, it could help GOP candidates some in tight races” Hutt said. “But either way, I think it will be minimal. If the GOP is hoping these endorsements are going to stem a blue wave, I’m afraid they are grasping at straws.”