Former Hedge Foundation CEO David McCormick handed over Republican leadership in Pennsylvania to Dr. Mehmed Oz, the US senator’s noted heart surgeon, ended his campaign Friday night after acknowledging that he would not allow enough statewide counts.
McCormick said he called Oz to surrender.
“It is now clear to me that the recount is almost complete, that we have a candidate,” McCormick said at a campaign party at the Pittsburgh Hotel. “Tonight is really about being with us.”
Before the count, Oz led McCormick with 972 votes out of 1.34 million in the May 17 primaries. The Associated Press has not announced a winner in the race as the automatic count is underway and the difference between the two candidates is just 0.07 percentage points.
Friday’s development marks a general election between Oz, backed by former President Donald Trump, and Democrat John Fetterman, who is expected to be one of the country’s prime ministers in a Senate race. Running can help determine control of a highly divided chamber.
Fetterman, the state’s deputy governor, said on Friday he nearly died when he suffered a stroke a few days before the primaries started. He said he ignored warning signs and doctors’ advice about taking blood thinners for years.
Oz, known as the television presenter of the day Dr Ozzy ShawHe has had to overcome millions of dollars in aggressive advertisements and skepticism from die-hard Trump supporters about his conservative beliefs about guns, abortion, transgender rights and other important Republican issues.
Oz, 61, relied on Trump’s backing as proof of his conservative good faith, while Trump lashed out at Oz’s rivals, arguing that Oz had the best chance of winning the presidential battlefield in November.
Rivals have made Oz’s dual citizenship a rallying cry in Turkey. If elected, Oz will be the country’s first Muslim senator.
Born in the United States, Oz served in the Turkish military and voted in the 2018 election. Oz said he would have given up Turkish citizenship had he won the November election, accusing McCormick of “special” attacks.
Oz and McCormick covered state broadcasts for months with political ads and spent millions of their own money. Virtually unknown four months ago, McCormick had to introduce himself to voters and gained a long history as a public figure by attacking advertising materials for Oz. He received help from the Super PAC, which supported him after spending 20 million dollars.
Like McCormick, Oz moved from the state to Pennsylvania to run.
Oz, a Harvard graduate, New York Times Bestselling author and self-defense advocate who has lived in a mansion in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, overlooking the Hudson River and Manhattan for the past few decades, blamed the carpet and political tourists.
The famous heart surgeon highlighted his connection to Pennsylvania, saying he grew up on the Delaware state border, attended medical school in Philadelphia and married a Pennsylvania native.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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