News
This election season, advocates made sure cancer was an election issue
November 13, 2024
93 candidates running for office signed ACS CAN’s Cancer Promise
Another Election Day has come and gone. The American people cast their votes and their voices were heard. This election season, over 560 ACS CAN volunteers worked to make cancer an election issue through Cancer Votes.
In 2024, ACS CAN encouraged candidates running for federal office to sign the Cancer Promise—a pledge to support evidence-based public policy solutions to end cancer as we know it, for everyone by accelerating cures, improving access to care, and ensuring access to cancer prevention and early detection services, including tobacco control.
Candidates who signed pledged to:
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Support sustainable annual increases in cancer research funding for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
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Protect existing laws and support legislation to expand health care options that help patients access quality, affordable health care.
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Support legislation to ensure access to cancer prevention services, including tobacco control and access to lifesaving cancer screenings.
Engaging candidates on the importance of cancer issues
Cancer advocates worked hard to engage their potential lawmakers — on social media, through digital messages, and at in-person events incuding Cancer Votes coffee chats, volunteers continued to push candidates throughout election season.
Whether online or in-person, volunteers shared their stories and explained why cancer issues were important to them. They reminded candidates that even though cancer can affect anyone, it doesn’t affect everyone equally. They also highlighted how specific health policies have directly impacted their cancer experience. They wanted future elected officials to know that the decisions they make in Congress have major implications on patient outcomes.
Because of their outreach efforts, ACS CAN advocates helped convince 93 candidates running for office to sign the Cancer Promise, including 21 candidates running for the U.S. Senate and 72 candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives. This is an incredible accomplishment, and we applaud everyone who took part in this process!
In addition to engaging candidates, ACS CAN also worked to register voters, help voters verify their voter registration status, request absentee ballots, and look up the items on their ballots.
We’re proud of everyone who made their voices heard during this election cycle. No matter which candidates were elected, we will continue to work with them to make cancer a national priority.