Following a recount, former hedge fund executive David McCormick has abandoned the Republican primary fight for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania to wellness star Mehmet Oz, ensuring another Donald Trump-endorsed candidate in a crucial midterm election.
According to Edison Research, Oz, who will face Democrat John Fetterman in the November 8 midterm election to replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey, won by a margin of 916 votes.
The contest is critical for Republicans’ aspirations of retaking control of the Senate, which is now controlled by President Joe Biden’s Democratic colleagues by a razor-thin margin.
In conceding to Oz on Friday, McCormick stated, “I will do my part to try to unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his candidacy, behind his nomination for the Senate.”
According to Edison Research, Oz received 419,643 votes to McCormick’s 418,727.
In the midterm elections, Trump has backed over 190 candidates, attempting to strengthen his status as the Republican Party’s kingmaker. His selections haven’t always come out on top.
Because his prior pick in the race pulled out after his divorced wife accused him of physical abuse and he lost a custody fight over his children, Trump then nominated Oz in April.
Both Oz and McCormick promoted Trump’s nationalist “America First” platform.
“I look forward to campaigning in every corner of the Commonwealth for the next five months to earn the support of every Pennsylvanian,” Oz said on Friday.
In November, Republicans hope to reclaim control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
They are in a strong position to retake control of the House, allowing them to stymie Biden’s legislative agenda.
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Democrats have a greater chance of retaining their razor-thin Senate majority, but they’ll need to win seats throughout the country, particularly in Pennsylvania, to do it.
Fetterman, the state’s current lieutenant governor, stated on Friday that he “almost died” after a stroke he suffered only days before the primary on May 17 and that has kept him off the campaign trail, implying that his condition was more serious than first thought.
“I’m not back to 100 percent yet,” he remarked, “but every day I’m getting closer.”
Oz, 61, is a Harvard-trained heart surgeon, New York Times bestselling author, and self-described health advocate best known for hosting the daytime television show The Dr Oz Show.
He had to overcome a blitz of attack ads as well as doubts among Trump’s most ardent supporters about his conservative credentials on firearms, abortion, transgender rights, and other key Republican issues.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
