How Dr. Oz won a Senate primary, despite his ‘baffling’ candidacy

When the dust settled on Pennsylvania’s statewide primaries on May 17, there were plenty of answers, but one big question: Who won the Republicans’ U.S. Senate primary? Celebrity physician Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund executive David McCormick were nearly tied, and a recount appeared inevitable.

Donald Trump, however, told Oz to simply declare victory, regardless of the results. The candidate soon after released a video claiming that he’d “earned the presumptive Republican nomination,” despite the fact that he hadn’t actually done so.

As it turns out, the rhetoric may have been premature, but it worked out in Oz’s favor anyway. NBC News reported:

As the expensive and at times ferocious Pennsylvania primary comes to an end, Oz appears to have prevailed by 940 votes out of nearly 1.3 million ballots cast.

The contest between the Keystone State’s lieutenant governor and the television personality seeking elected office for the first time — in an open-seat race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey — will likely be one of the country’s most closely watched 2022 elections. What’s more, the outcome may very well determine which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.

But before we shift our attention in earnest to the general election, it’s worth pausing on the implausibility of Oz having won the GOP nomination in the first place.

One of my favorite reports on Oz’s candidacy was published in Politico shortly before Thanksgiving. At the time, failed congressional candidate Sean Parnell appeared to be the frontrunner in Pennsylvania — he’d already received Donald Trump’s endorsement — but there was a broad understanding that other contenders could enter the race and compete. (Personal scandals ultimately forced Parnell to quit.)

It was against this backdrop that Politico reported in mid-November that Oz was “baffling” Republican insiders in the commonwealth by expressing an interest in the Senate primary.

An unnamed Pennsylvania Republican strategist said, “I don’t know a single politically involved person in Pennsylvania who’s not being paid who wants to be involved in [Oz’s campaign].” The strategist added that the “pretty much universal response” to the idea of Oz running for the Senate was audible laughter.

Note, I’m not describing a political dynamic that existed decades ago; I’m talking about conditions that existed six months ago.

Before even hitting the campaign trail, Oz had to deal with the fact that he’s from Ohio, had a home in Florida, and voted in New Jersey as recently as two years ago. He was nevertheless running in Pennsylvania because ... well, no one was really sure why.

After launching his candidacy, Oz began abandoning policy positions he’d held for years. My personal favorite was the multiple columns he’d written, warning of potential health risks associated with fracking. In March, he claimed he didn’t write his own columns that were published under his byline.

Complicating matters further, Oz’s biggest selling point — he became wealthy and famous as a television personality — is arguably his biggest weakness. After all, as The New York Times reported, Oz has a lengthy history of “dispensing dubious medical advice” and making “sweeping claims based on thin evidence.”

And yet, despite all of this, Oz narrowly won the primary anyway, thanks in large part to Trump’s enthusiastic support, becoming one of the year’s strangest Senate GOP primary winners.

It’s too soon to say with any confidence who’ll win in November, but let’s not overlook a nagging detail: Few Senate candidates are as disliked by their own party’s voters as Oz.