Political alignment of US physicians shifted from 1991 to 2012

Results from a recent study indicated that since 1991, US physicians have contributed increasing amounts of money to political candidates and have grown more likely to vote for Democrats, reflecting changes in demographics among physicians. Researchers used public data to study physicians’ donation and voting behaviors and reported that, after adjustment for inflation, political campaign contributions by physicians increased from $20 million during the 1991-1992 election cycle to $189 million in the 2011-2012 cycle, after adjustment for inflation. In the earlier cycle, an estimated 2.6% of physicians made political contributions; that number rose to 9.4% during the 2011 to 2012 cycle. However, the number of physicians contributing to Republican candidates specifically has decreased since 1996, reaching below 50% during the 2007-2008 and 2011-2012 cycles.