Dr. Oz Officially Joins Pennsylvania Senate Race As a Republican

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a nationally recognized physician, recently announced that he will run for Senate in Pennsylvania, adding to an already tumultuous race. In a guest editorial for The Washington Examiner, Oz said, “We have not managed our crises as effectively as past generations. During the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions. That’s why I am running for the U.S. Senate: to help fix the problems and to help us heal.” 

He went on to say, “The reality of our challenges has crystallized during the pandemic. Covid-19 became an excuse for the government and elite thinkers who controlled the means of communication to suspend debate. Dissenting opinions from leading scholars were ridiculed and canceled so their ideas could not be disseminated.”

In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, Oz stated that he is running for the Republican nomination and explained, “Pennsylvania needs a conservative who will put America first.” ​​

Last week, Sean Parnell, a candidate in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, abandoned his candidacy after his estranged wife was given exclusive legal custody of their children in a case in which she claimed abuse. Parnell refuted the allegations.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Oz resided in New Jersey until 2020 and registered to vote in Pennsylvania last year at his in-laws’ house. The University of Pennsylvania’s medical school and Wharton School graduate went into more detail about his campaign on Fox’s “Hannity” Tuesday evening. 

Because of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey’s decision not to seek re-election, Pennsylvania’s Senate race in 2022 will be extremely important in determining control of the chamber, which Democrats now hold thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote. In a state that President Joe Biden won in 2020, it’s the lone Republican-held seat up for election next year.

Several other notable Republicans have been running for months, including former ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands, and Jeff Bartos, the party’s 2018 contender for lieutenant governor. However, the controversy surrounding Parnell, who had established himself as the leader with support from former President Trump, has sparked discussion about additional contenders, like Oz. David McCormick, the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, a hedge firm located in Westport, Conn., and the husband of former Trump administration official Dina Powell, has also been suggested as a possible candidate.

Democrat candidates include Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, and Dr. Val Arkoosh, a physician and Montgomery County commissioner. However, no candidates from either side of the aisle have the name recognition of Oz, ​​who got his big break on television thanks to Oprah Winfrey, first as a guest on her hugely popular talk show. He later went on to host and co-produce “The Dr. Oz Show,” which is still airing in syndication.

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