Dr. Oz to run for Pennsylvania Senate

Oz
(CREDIT: Official / Shutterstock.com)

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon is joining the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, and yes, our former president, Donald Trump as a celebrity who is using their fame to attempt a political career. 

On Tuesday he declared his candidacy for the Senate in Pennsylvania, joining a competitive Republican primary field in the crucial battleground state and released a video to his millions of followers. 

Dr. Oz on Twitter: “I’m running for US Senate in Pennsylvania because America needs a Conservative Republican to cure what’s wrong with Washington. I’m a world-class surgeon, fighter, and health care advocate stepping forward to cure our country’s ills. Watch my announcement video now! https://t.co/yLhKsZm9sl

The 61-year old Oz rose to fame as a frequent guest of Oprah Winfrey, eventually launching his own syndicated daytime TV talk show, The Dr. Oz Show in 2009. While it has been reported that he has resided in New Jersey for years, last year he registered to vote in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, using his in-law’s address in Bryn Athyn to do so, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. According to election records, he’s voted twice by absentee ballot in Pennsylvania this year.

Pennsylvania’s Senate seat is opening up with the retirement of two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, and both Republicans and Democrats have a big field of candidates in the politically divided state.

Oz, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school and from its Wharton business school in 1986, would seemingly bring fame and status as a political outsider to the Republican primary but would also likely face questions about living outside the state and his sometimes controversial medical advice.

Oz has promoted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment while the Food and Drug Administration has cautioned against the personal use of the drug for COVID. Oz has also previously been criticized for other health recommendations, and has testified at a Senate hearing on deceptive advertising for diet supplements.

The talk show star is campaigning as a Republican in the swing-state, hoping to take the seat vacated by long-serving Sen. Pat Toomey. Previously, Sean Parnell, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, was the GOP frontrunner. Parnell had to abandon his campaign after losing custody of his three children due to the abuse and violence his ex-wife alleged in court. 

In addition to Twitter, Dr. Oz also announced his run for Senate in a statement published in the right wing propaganda website Washington Examiner. Ironically, after spreading misinformation and encouraging the use of horse dewormer to treat Covid-19, he said, “Over 750,000 in the United States have died from the virus, a devastating toll for families and communities. Many of those deaths were preventable. 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.

Instead, the government-mandated policies caused unnecessary suffering. The public was patronized and misled instead of empowered.”

New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr., who represents NJ’s ninth district,  where Oz has resided, responded to the news in a Tweet Tuesday.

Bill Pascrell, Jr. on Twitter: “I want to congratulate my North Jersey constituent Dr. Oz on his run for US Senate in Pennsylvania. I’m sure this fully genuine candidacy will capture the hearts of Pennsylvanians.”


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A representative for Oz’s campaign is quoted in Business Insider explaining that he does live in Pennsylvania. 

“Dr. Oz lives in Pennsylvania, votes in Pennsylvania, and has his medical license in Pennsylvania. Dr. Oz grew up in the Greater Philadelphia region, less than 5 miles from the PA border. He went to school in Pennsylvania, met his wife and got married in Pennsylvania, and 2 of his children were born in Pennsylvania. He currently resides in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, where his wife’s family has lived for a hundred years,” Erin Perrine said.

According to Ballotpedia, there are already 12 men and women running for senate as Republicans and Oz isn’t listed on the site as of yet. The list includes Jeff Bartos, a real estate developer and longtime GOP fundraiser who was a 2018 candidate for lieutenant governor, and Carla Sands, a business executive and Republican donor who served as U.S. ambassador to Denmark during the Trump administration. 

What this run for the senate means for Oz’s TV series, one only knows. The FCC’s equal time provision for broadcast TV stations means if his show remains on air he is in theory being given free political airtime. That opportunity must then be given to other contenders.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a representative for Fox Television Stations said Tuesday that Dr. Oz has been pulled from its stations in the New York and Philadelphia markets now that the celebrity surgeon has made his candidacy official. Other stations that reach Pennsylvania TV households are likely to at least temporarily drop the program as well.

Oz
(CREDIT: Official / Shutterstock.com)

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon is joining the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, and yes, our former president, Donald Trump as a celebrity who is using their fame to attempt a political career. 

On Tuesday he declared his candidacy for the Senate in Pennsylvania, joining a competitive Republican primary field in the crucial battleground state and released a video to his millions of followers. 

Dr. Oz on Twitter: “I’m running for US Senate in Pennsylvania because America needs a Conservative Republican to cure what’s wrong with Washington. I’m a world-class surgeon, fighter, and health care advocate stepping forward to cure our country’s ills. Watch my announcement video now! https://t.co/yLhKsZm9sl

The 61-year old Oz rose to fame as a frequent guest of Oprah Winfrey, eventually launching his own syndicated daytime TV talk show, The Dr. Oz Show in 2009. While it has been reported that he has resided in New Jersey for years, last year he registered to vote in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, using his in-law’s address in Bryn Athyn to do so, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. According to election records, he’s voted twice by absentee ballot in Pennsylvania this year.

Pennsylvania’s Senate seat is opening up with the retirement of two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, and both Republicans and Democrats have a big field of candidates in the politically divided state.

Oz, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school and from its Wharton business school in 1986, would seemingly bring fame and status as a political outsider to the Republican primary but would also likely face questions about living outside the state and his sometimes controversial medical advice.

Oz has promoted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment while the Food and Drug Administration has cautioned against the personal use of the drug for COVID. Oz has also previously been criticized for other health recommendations, and has testified at a Senate hearing on deceptive advertising for diet supplements.

The talk show star is campaigning as a Republican in the swing-state, hoping to take the seat vacated by long-serving Sen. Pat Toomey. Previously, Sean Parnell, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, was the GOP frontrunner. Parnell had to abandon his campaign after losing custody of his three children due to the abuse and violence his ex-wife alleged in court. 

In addition to Twitter, Dr. Oz also announced his run for Senate in a statement published in the right wing propaganda website Washington Examiner. Ironically, after spreading misinformation and encouraging the use of horse dewormer to treat Covid-19, he said, “Over 750,000 in the United States have died from the virus, a devastating toll for families and communities. Many of those deaths were preventable. 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.

Instead, the government-mandated policies caused unnecessary suffering. The public was patronized and misled instead of empowered.”

New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr., who represents NJ’s ninth district,  where Oz has resided, responded to the news in a Tweet Tuesday.

Bill Pascrell, Jr. on Twitter: “I want to congratulate my North Jersey constituent Dr. Oz on his run for US Senate in Pennsylvania. I’m sure this fully genuine candidacy will capture the hearts of Pennsylvanians.”


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A representative for Oz’s campaign is quoted in Business Insider explaining that he does live in Pennsylvania. 

“Dr. Oz lives in Pennsylvania, votes in Pennsylvania, and has his medical license in Pennsylvania. Dr. Oz grew up in the Greater Philadelphia region, less than 5 miles from the PA border. He went to school in Pennsylvania, met his wife and got married in Pennsylvania, and 2 of his children were born in Pennsylvania. He currently resides in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, where his wife’s family has lived for a hundred years,” Erin Perrine said.

According to Ballotpedia, there are already 12 men and women running for senate as Republicans and Oz isn’t listed on the site as of yet. The list includes Jeff Bartos, a real estate developer and longtime GOP fundraiser who was a 2018 candidate for lieutenant governor, and Carla Sands, a business executive and Republican donor who served as U.S. ambassador to Denmark during the Trump administration. 

What this run for the senate means for Oz’s TV series, one only knows. The FCC’s equal time provision for broadcast TV stations means if his show remains on air he is in theory being given free political airtime. That opportunity must then be given to other contenders.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a representative for Fox Television Stations said Tuesday that Dr. Oz has been pulled from its stations in the New York and Philadelphia markets now that the celebrity surgeon has made his candidacy official. Other stations that reach Pennsylvania TV households are likely to at least temporarily drop the program as well.