- Television personality Dr. Oz announced he was running for US Senate in swing-state Pennsylvania.
- He wrote an op-ed for the Washington Examiner about his run, but only mentioned the commonwealth once in the entire column.
- In the op-ed, Oz did not explain why he wants to represent Pennsylvania but slammed federal COVID-19 policies.
Celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz, best known as the host of the "Dr. Oz Show," wrote an op-ed Tuesday explaining why he is running to be a US senator representing Pennsylvania.
He only mentioned the commonwealth's name just once in the entire column — in the title.
Oz, a television personality and heart surgeon, announced his senatorial campaign on Tuesday in a column for the Washington Examiner.
"I'm running for the Senate to empower you to control your destiny, to reinvigorate our great nation, and to reignite the divine spark that we should always be seeing in each other," Oz said in the op-ed.
In the column, Oz condemned the "government-mandated policies that caused unnecessary suffering" during the coronavirus pandemic but did not explicitly say why he wants to represent Pennsylvania — a swing-state — in the Senate.
"Although we had some moments of brilliance, such as the gift to the world of mRNA vaccines made possible by President Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed, many great ideas were squashed," he wrote. "That's not the America my parents came to. That's not the one I grew up in. That's not the one I want to leave behind."
Oz, whose political views remain somewhat unknown, resides in New Jersey and has only registered to vote in the state with his in-law's home address once, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Oz is running to replace the long-seated Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring at the end of his term.
He'll first face a crowded GOP primary that includes Kathy Barnette, a Black Republican commentator; Jeff Bartos, who is a Montgomery County developer; and Carla Sands, a former actress and Ambassador to Denmark.
David McCormick, who is a hedge-fund manager, is another possible Republican candidate for the race, though he now lives in Connecticut, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Erin Perrine, a spokesperson from Oz's team, doubled down on the celebrity physician's ties to Pennsylvania, mentioning the commonwealth a total of eight times in a statement to Insider.
"Dr. Oz lives in Pennsylvania, votes in Pennsylvania, and has his medical license in Pennsylvania," Perrine said in the statement. "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."