David McCormick, a former CEO of a hedge fund, conceded the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania to Dr. Mehmet O. He ended his campaign Friday night after he admitted that a continuing statewide recount would not give him enough votes.
McCormick claimed that he called Oz to agree.
McCormick stated, “It’s now evident to me with the recount now nearly complete that we have nominee,” McCormick told a Pittsburgh campaign party.
He said, “Tonight really is about us all coming together.”
Out of 1.34million votes, Oz was ahead by 972 votes. Because an automatic recount has been initiated, the margin between the candidates is only 0.07 percentage points.
Friday’s developments set up a general election between Oz who was endorsed former President Donald Trump and Democrat John Fetterman. This is expected to be one the country’s most important Senate contests.
This could be the decisive vote in the tightly divided chamber. Democrats see it as their best chance to win a seat to replace the retiring two-term Republican Senator Pat Toomey.
Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of the state, said earlier Friday that he almost died after suffering a stroke a few days before his primary. He claimed he ignored warning signs for many years and that a doctor advised him to take blood thinners.
Oz is most well-known as host of “The Dr. Oz Show” on daytime TV. He had to face millions of dollars of attack ads and doubts from hard-line Trump supporters about his conservative credentials regarding guns, abortion and transgender rights.
Oz, 61 years old, leaned on Trump’s endorsement as proof that he was a conservative. Trump also attacked Oz’s rivals while Oz maintained that Oz has the best chance to win in November in the presidential battleground.
Rivals made Oz’s dual citizenship in Turkey a topic in the race. Oz, if elected, would become the nation’s first Muslim senator.
Oz was born in the United States and served in Turkey’s army. He also voted in Turkey’s 2018 elections. Oz stated that he would give up his Turkish citizenship if McCormick wins the November election. He also accused McCormick for making “bigoted” attacks.
McCormick and Oz flooded state airwaves for months with political ads, and spent millions of their own cash. McCormick was virtually unknown to voters four month ago. He had to introduce himself and use Oz’s long history as a public figure to create attack ads. A super PAC that supported him spent $20 million.
Oz, like McCormick moved from one state to run for office in Pennsylvania.
Oz, a Harvard graduate and New York Times bestseller author, was self-described as a wellness advocate. He lived in Cliffside Park for decades, New Jersey above Manhattan, drawing accusations of being a carpetbagger or a political tourist.
Celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Michael Stern stressed his connection to Pennsylvania. He said he was born just across the Delaware border and went to Philadelphia medical school. After marrying a Pennsylvanian, he moved to Philadelphia.
McCormick was a Wall Street celebrity before he ran. He managed the largest hedge fund in the world and had strong Republican Party connections back to his time as a former President George W. Bush’s advisor. Dina Powell, his wife, was Trump’s deputy national security advisor and also had strong connections to the party.
McCormick was interested in running for public office since he was a child. He moved from Connecticut’s ritzy Gold Coast home to Pittsburgh, before declaring his candidacy.
He spoke out about his connection to Pennsylvania, mentioning that he grew up on a farm and was a football and wrestling star in high school before moving to West Point and serving in the Gulf War. He also worked 10 years in Pittsburgh as a businessman, which gave him a greater claim to Pennsylvania than Oz.
McCormick, like Oz, had worked hard for Trump’s endorsement. He insisted that he was the genuine “America First” candidate and invoked Trump’s nickname to describe his governing philosophy.
In the final two weeks of the campaign, Trump attacked McCormick several times, leading a rally in Oz where he called McCormick “candidate for special interests, globalists, and the Washington establishment”.
McCormick ended the campaign with a TV commercial showing Trump in a clip in private 2020 ceremony. McCormick congratulated McCormick and said, “You’ve served our nation well in so many ways.”
McCormick stated in the TV commercial, “You know why that was so,” “Because it’s true. “Because it’s true. I risked everything for America, and I would do it all over again. … “I am a pro-life, progun, America First conservative, and I am damn proud of it.”
