and future U.S. Senator
David McCormick narrowly lost the primary, placing second. finished third in the primary.
Carla Sands finished fourth in the primary. finished fifth in the primary.
Campaign Early campaign In October 2020, incumbent Republican Senator
Pat Toomey decided not to run for re-election, stating that he wished to return to the private sector. By October 2021, businessman
Jeff Bartos, who had posted strong fund-raising totals, and veteran
Sean Parnell, who had the endorsement of former president
Donald Trump, emerged as the race's front-runners. However, Parnell's campaign faced a large scandal in November 2021, after his ex-wife, Laurie Snell, testified in court during a custody hearing for the couple's children that Parnell had strangled and spat on her, abused their children, and told her to "go get an abortion". Parnell denied the allegations under oath. On November 22, 2021, Snell was given custody of the couple's children and Parnell suspended his campaign. Oz's campaign entered an immediate controversy over whether Oz himself was a resident of Pennsylvania, as he had lived in
Cliffside Park, New Jersey, for most of his life and had only registered to vote in Pennsylvania in October 2020. The January 2022 entrance of
David McCormick, a businessman, into the race prompted attacks for McCormick's past detraction of Trump and criticism of "
America First" economic policies from Oz allies. Republican straw polls in January 2022 indicated strong support for Bartos and political commentator
Kathy Barnette among party activists as the campaign started to escalate. Bartos won the Republican State Committee Central Caucus's straw poll, placing first with 49 votes, while Barnette finished in second place with 30 votes. McCormick and Sands trailed at third and fourth place; and Oz and former Boxing Commissioner George Bochetto performed poorly, each receiving only one vote. Despite this, political commentators largely considered Oz and McCormick to be the frontrunners, with the other candidates trailing them. The McCormick campaign targeted Oz's ties to Turkey and called on him to renounce his Turkish citizenship, accusing Oz of harboring dual loyalties. Oz later stated that if he were elected to the Senate, he would renounce his Turkish citizenship. Former president Trump endorsed Oz on April 10, citing the popularity of his television show and perceived appeal to female voters. Oz frequently highlighted this endorsement, it becoming one of his major talking points during the campaign. Oz himself also accused Barnette of
Islamophobia, pointing to a 2015 tweet in which she stated, "Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam."
Candidates Nominee •
Mehmet Oz, host of
The Dr. Oz Show and former cardiologist •
Jeff Bartos, businessman, philanthropist and nominee for
Lieutenant Governor in
2018 •
Carla Sands,
U.S. Ambassador to Denmark (2017–2021) • John Eichenberg, truck driver • Robert Jeffries, perennial candidate • Ron Johnson, former
Fredonia borough councilor • Max Richardson • Martin Rosenfeld,
Elk County deputy sheriff and treasurer of the Elk County Republican Party • David Xu, U.S. Army veteran, college professor and IT business owner
Withdrew •
Sean Parnell, U.S. Army veteran, author, and nominee for in
2020 (endorsed McCormick) • Craig Snyder, former chief of staff to U.S. Senator
Arlen Specter •
Everett Stern, whistleblower, private intelligence agency owner, and candidate for in
2014 and U.S. Senate in
2016 (ran as an independent) Declined •
Kenneth Braithwaite,
U.S. Secretary of the Navy (2020–2021),
U.S. Ambassador to Norway (2018–2020), and former advisor to U.S. Senator
Arlen Specter •
Mike Kelly, U.S. representative for
PA-16; formerly (2011–present)
(endorsed Parnell) • Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for Policy at the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2019–2021), and candidate for
governor in
2018 •
Keith Rothfus, U.S. representative for (2013–2019) •
Kiron Skinner, Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at
Carnegie Mellon University and former
Director of Policy Planning at the
U.S. State Department (2018–2019) •
Pat Toomey, incumbent U.S. senator •
Donald Trump Jr., businessman and son of former president
Donald Trump (endorsed Parnell) Debates and forums Endorsements Polling Graphical summary Results Following the first night of results, it became clear that Oz and McCormick were the top two vote-getters in the election; however, the margin between them was too close to declare a victor. A mandatory recount then began. With McCormick having done better with mail-in ballots, Oz opposed counting ballots which were received by election offices before election day but were missing dates on the envelopes. A state court later required counties to count undated ballots as valid. On June 3, McCormick conceded to Oz, saying he could not make up the deficit in the recount. ==Democratic primary==