Meanwhile Johary, 64, of Longwood, who operates several dental clinics throughout Orange and Seminole counties, is challenging Apopka incumbent State Rep. Doug Bankson in the Republican Primary for House District 39. Bankson’s career is in Christian ministries. The winner of that race will face the Winter Garden-based Fox in the Nov. 3 general election. 

The lone Democrat among the three physicians, Fox, 43, contends Tallahassee needs more lawmakers who follow the evidence and data to make public policy decisions. He told VoxPopuli he felt compelled to run after seeing elected officials pushing health misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic and then saw how the anti-vaxxer movement gained momentum under U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“We realized that there are all of these healthcare policies getting made without much input from the medical profession,” Fox said in a recent phone interview. “That’s what led to a lot of people in the medical field to at least contemplate running for office.”

Both Fox and Razack also say they want to champion policies to help their patients afford their healthcare, citing the affordability crisis as what pushed them to get more politically active and launch their campaigns.

Johary did not return messages for comment for this story.

Cost motivator 

Physicians and healthcare workers taking off their white coats and running for office isn’t a new trend and has been happening for years, said Susan MacManus, a TV political analyst and professor emeritus of political science at University of South Florida in Tampa.

The Patients Access Network currently counts 20 physicians serving in Congress, both in the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans. 

These days, physicians’ motivations to enter the political arena are less inspired by vaccines and more about reducing healthcare expenses, according to MacManus. 

“Right now it's cost, cost, cost,” she said, adding that physicians and medical professionals are saying, I’m not sitting on the sidelines anymore. This is too big of a problem to be ignored. We've got to fix it.”

A new Gallup poll out earlier this month found that only 49 percent of American adults say they can afford healthcare — a five-year low. 

A conservative who got interested in the Tea Party Movement, Razack said he decided to run as he became increasingly concerned by what he called overregulation from Obamacare. He blamed the Affordable Care Act for rising healthcare costs.

“We have the best medical technology in the world. We have the best doctors and physicians and the best healthcare in the world,” said Razack, who also teaches healthcare law at Florida A&M University in downtown Orlando. “We just have to make it more accessible, more affordable. Those are the two things that are lacking in our healthcare system.”

He complained it’s hard for patients to compare the cost for procedures at different hospitals in order to price shop. Instead Razack said patients are kept in the dark about the real cost while they get slammed by co-pays and high-deductible insurance plans. Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Fox worried about his patients with AIDS who were in jeopardy of losing their subsidized life-saving medicine until the state Legislature reached a last-minute deal this year to reverse the cuts. He fears the issue could resurface again.

He also sees uninsured patients who come to the emergency room as their only option for medical care because the state won’t expand Medicaid. 

Vaccine war

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Florida state officials have also been openly at war with vaccines, prioritizing individual choice over community health.

At a press conference last year, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo compared Florida’s longstanding requirements that children be immunized against polio, measles, pertussis and diphtheria before entering daycare or school to “slavery.” Despite a hard push from Ladapo and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wanted Florida to be the first state to end all vaccine mandates for school attendance, the Legislature failed to overturn the 1977 law requiring them. But a new “personal conscience” exemption was created to go along with established opt-outs for religious reasons. 

Meanwhile, according to the Florida Department of Health, kindergarten immunization levels have dropped to 88 percent while seventh grade immunizations are at 91.9 percent. Community immunity or herd immunity requires vaccination rates of 95 percent to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. Which may explain why cases of pertussis (whooping cough), which can be deadly for newborns and infants, more than doubled in Florida between 2024 and 2025 from 715 to 1,511, and why Florida is now fourth in the nation, after South Carolina, Utah and Texas, with 155 cases of measles, largely in Collier County.

“Even here in Orlando, we had a couple of cases of measles,” Fox said about his concerns from the anti-vax movement. “Measles is something I didn't think I would ever see.”

Razack opposes state vaccine mandates. He prefers vaccination to be a choice left up to parents and physicians.

“Vaccines scientifically work. We know they work. … I'm biased. I'm a neuro-surgeon, right?” Razack said. “But to make it absolutely mandatory, you can't use a one-size-fits-all mentality.”

A January survey found that nearly 80 percent of likely Florida voters favor maintaining the current vaccination requirements. That support crosses party lines, including 71 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of independents. 

A "unique perspective"

Dr. John Paul, president of the Florida Dental Association, said dentists and physicians are drawn to public office because they are naturally compassionate and want to help people. 

When they get elected, Paul said they bring a “unique perspective” because they are hard workers who have gone through a rigorous education; may have backgrounds as entrepreneurs, running their own practices and managing finances; and they are good problem solvers. 

Paul stopped short of saying that electing more dentists would help his organization’s advocacy efforts for another hot-button issue: fluoride in community drinking water. Last year, Florida became the second state in the country to ban the addition of fluoride to community water systems, despite decades of scientific research in the U.S. and Europe that showed that the mineral is safe and effective at preventing tooth decay. The American Dental Association credits fluoride with reducing tooth decay by 25 percent. Meanwhile, fluoride bans have been largely based on one large, but highly controversial report.  

“Honestly, I got to say that it is based on the individual,” Paul said, referring to why physicians run. “You can't paint with as broad a brush and say, Well, they're in the health sciences, so they're definitely doing this or that.”

Most medical professionals running for office are looking at a range of issues — not singularly focused on vaccines or fluoride, he said. “I don't think anybody goes to the Legislature as a One-Note Johnny.” 

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Norine Dworkin contributed reporting.