Businessman David McCormick called celebrity doctor and former daytime talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz to concede the Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
McCormick told supporters at a campaign party it was clear that a recount triggered by the close race would not end in his favor.
“Tonight is really about all us coming together,” the AP, which has not formally called the race, reported.
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Before the primary, Oz had polled neck and neck against McCormick, with both MAGA outsiders splitting the GOP moderate vote. But down the stretch, Oz also had to fend off upstart candidate Kathy Barnette, who exploited her right-wing bona fides to mount a last-minute charge that in one poll put her within a point of the top spot. Neither McCormick nor Barnette, however, could ultimately outmuscle Oz’s fame and former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Oz’s win is also a triumph for Trump, who had notched another major endorsement victory two weeks earlier with J.D. Vance’s come-from-behind win in the Ohio Senate primary. But while Trump can safely declare himself the Republican Party’s de facto kingmaker, both Oz and Vance suffered from antipathy among the Trump base all the way through election day, losing a large chunk of the MAGA vote despite his endorsement.
Although that Ohio field featured more candidates and ran months longer, the Pennsylvania contest shared its ugly streak. In all, the Oz and McCormick camps spent tens of millions of dollars on attack ads, CNBC reported, some of them misleading, as each scrambled to prove the other was the true MAGA fraud—Oz the “Hollywood liberal,” and McCormick the corporatist China “ally.”
Part of the problem was that both candidates stepped into a MAGA vacuum left after Trump-backed Sean Parnell’s exit, pursued by child support issues and domestic battery allegations. Neither candidate fully won that community over, and now Oz, like Vance in Ohio, will have to cement their support without alienating the state’s key suburban swing voters, who made the difference in Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Still, it’s hard to gauge the Trump effect. He was riding high after Ohio, but last week saw a stinging defeat of his anointed gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska—a megadonor whom eight women had accused of sexual assault. And Pennsylvania, where Trumpworld figures split their support, doesn’t appear to be a ringing referendum either way.
McCormick, who is married to Trump’s former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, drew backing from top figures in Trump’s orbit. Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders both campaigned for him, and he landed endorsements from former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). McCormick had also sweetened his campaign staff with Trump whisperers Stephen Miller, Cliff Sims, and Hope Hicks, a unique move that still failed to appeal to the former president. (Miller dropped him when Trump chose Oz.)
The results also indicate that Trump’s base is prepared to turn their backs on their leader.
Barnette’s last-minute grassroots surge drew fire from within the pro-Trump tent. A number of influencers warned that her candidacy would spell doom for Republicans in the general election. She also attracted odd, late-game rebukes from Fox News stalwart Sean Hannity and Newsmax’s Greg Kelly, who trounced her for Islamophobic remarks, among other things. And even Trump weighed in, releasing a statement last week that claimed Barnette would lose in the general election because of “many things in her past which have not been properly explained or vetted.”
Despite those efforts, a significant slice of the MAGA base, lukewarm on the top two contenders, deprioritized their loyalty to Trump and turned en masse to Barnette.
Stil, it wasn’t enough to topple Oz. He now face his new Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who won his primary easily May 17.
