It was a bad Election Day for MAHA, and Zen Honeycutt wasn’t the least bit surprised.

This story was originally reported by Barbara Rodriguez of The 19th. Meet Barbara and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

The Make America Healthy Again activist — part of the MAHA mom coalition who helped propel President Donald Trump back into office in 2024 — had read the tea leaves for months: No matter how much she and other organizers still backed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president’s policies on pesticides were unpopular and harmed the movement. 

“[Trump] stood on the presidential platform and said he would go after pesticides in our food and address autism, childhood chronic illness, cancer and obesity,” Honeycutt, who leads the Moms Across America nonprofit focused on mobilizing MAHA moms, told The 19th. “And he shook Bobby Kennedy’s hands and said he could go wild — and then did absolutely nothing about it.”

Some supporters of the movement had placed their bets on a slate of MAHA-aligned midterm candidates including Zach Lahn, the Republican nominee in the open Iowa governor’s race who received nearly $2 million from MAHA-affiliated groups. Less than a week before the election, Kennedy appeared at a MAHA rally in a Des Moines suburb and went so far as to call Lahn’s race “the most important election going on in this country today.”

On Tuesday, Lahn lost by a wide margin to a Democrat who campaigned on similar health issues and an anti-corruption platform. Ruby-red Iowa also lost all congressional representation among Republican women, following national headwinds that saw Democrats take decisive control of both chambers of Congress and key state races as voters decisively rejected Trump’s priorities.

Among the collateral: knocking out key Republican candidates backed by MAHA-affiliated groups.

“He said he was not going to care about the big corporations and special interests. He was going to address our children’s health and safety,” Honeycutt said of the president. “And frankly, not much has been done about that. Especially not with pesticides. Nothing has been done. It’s only gotten worse.” 

Ahead of the election, Honeycutt, based in North Carolina, delivered remarks at the Des Moines area event and mingled with supporters who munched on free burgers and fries from Steak ‘n Shake — MAHA’s fast food darling that earned praise from Kennedy for banning seed oils.

“I just find this race particularly important because Iowa is such an incredibly important agriculture state and politically important state,” Honeycutt told The 19th before taking the stage. “As Iowa goes, so goes most of the country.”

In a follow-up interview after Lahn’s loss, Honeycutt reflected on where the MAHA movement goes from here. She suspects MAHA moms stayed home on Election Day, impacting GOP performance. Other MAHA influencers have shared similar sentiments.

“MAHA moms stayed home and it could’ve swayed some of these races that were unbearably close,” Alex Clark, a conservative wellness influencer, wrote on X. “Should’ve listened to our warnings on protecting glyphosate — but you needed Bayer for the war,” she said, referencing the Trump administration’s perceived support for pesticide companies.

Lahn was among the candidates endorsed by MAHA Action, led by book publisher and Kennedy ally Tony Lyons. Lyons blamed the losses on being outspent by Democrats.

“MAHA was up against some of the most powerful and best-funded interests in the world,” he told supporters via video, later claiming MAHA candidates performed better than most Republicans. “They backed the candidates running against us.”

Honeycutt said moms like herself are committed to advancing policies irrespective of who is in control of Congress. Case in point: Her group’s midterm endorsement list included 33 Republicans, eight Democrats and seven independents. Just a little over a dozen Republican candidates on the list won their elections. Every Democrat, all of whom were incumbents and included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, won.

Honeycutt said that in private conversations this year with legislative staffers for dozens of Democrats in Congress, many expressed an open interest in environmental policies that align with the MAHA movement, including ending the practice of using the herbicide glyphosate in weedkillers — but at the time they lamented their constraints in Republican-controlled chambers. Come January, that changes.

“Clearly the Democrats are upset about how things are going, and now they have the time and the opportunity to change things. So let’s do it. Let’s work together. Let’s get this pesticide reform happening. Let’s get the toxins out of our water and our environment,” she said. “I’m eager to see the Democrats quickly pass bills and get them to Trump’s desk that will make America healthy again.”

But MAHA’s most vocal champion under the Trump administration could face political blowback under the new Congress. Kennedy has received widespread criticism from doctors and medical groups for his public health policies at HHS, including pushing anti-vaccine rhetoric and politicizing government research funding that impacts women and children. Several Democrats with medical and science backgrounds won prominent seats on Tuesday, including Dr. Annie Andrews of South Carolina, who will be the first pediatrician in the Senate. Part of her campaign centered on addressing a measles outbreak in her state and holding Kennedy accountable. Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, who will be sworn into the Senate with a background in public health, has challenged the secretary while also courting MAHA supporters. Other lawmakers are calling for Kennedy’s removal. 

Honeycutt has called attempts to impeach Kennedy “extremely unwise.”

“If you go after Kennedy, you’re going to guarantee that the moms in the middle — they’re never going to vote for your party. For you or your party, come 2028. Never,” she said.

So where does this coalition of moms go from here? Honeycutt can see a media narrative forming that there has to be a big change within the movement. But she doesn’t see it that way. Her advocacy group is still calling for the same policy issues, which include pesticide regulation, healthier food in schools, opposing childhood vaccine requirements and pulling COVID-19 vaccines off the market. HHS promotes both childhood vaccines and COVID shots as safe. 

Honeycutt said she’ll work with Democrats on issues like pesticides even if there isn’t alignment on her vaccines priorities: “We will work one at a time with people on issues. I mean that’s the way you get things done, right?”

Honeycutt, who met before the election with several “mother-led” organizations, told The 19th that there are plans underway for at least one major strategy meeting among MAHA-minded people and left-leaning groups before the end of the year. She noted that MAHA priorities will not go away as attention turns to 2028.

“As I’ve said before, moms are not beholden to a political party,” she said. “We vote for those who put health and safety first. We proved that in the last election. Millions of former Democrats and independents voted Republican for the first time in their lives. So if the Republicans don’t get it done, then those votes are up for grabs.”

She added: “Or like we saw in this election, they won’t vote.”