Dr. Oz wins Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary by 951 votes, final tally shows
Dr. Mehmet Oz won last month's U.S. Senate Republican primary in Pennsylvania by 951 votes, according to the final tally released Wednesday.
According to the final vote count, Oz received 419,999 votes, followed by David McCormick, who received 419,048 votes and Kathy Barnette, who received 331,864 votes, according to numbers from the Pennsylvania Secretary of State. None of the other candidates topped 75,000 votes.
There were more than 1.3 million votes cast in the May 17 primary, according to the Associated Press.
The outcome isn't very surprising, since McCormick conceded last week despite the ongoing recount, saying it was "now clear to me with the recount now largely complete that we have a nominee." He urged the party to now come together to defeat the Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
The recount did little to change the outcome of the election. Before the recount, Oz led McCormick by 972 votes, or 0.07% of the vote. A recount is automatically triggered in Pennsylvania if the margin of victory is less that 0.5%.
Oz, who is best known as the host of the television show "The Dr. Oz Show," had received the coveted endorsement from former President Donald Trump. But he had to overcome prior comments that were more liberal and longtime residence in New Jersey, although McCormick had also moved to Pennsylvania to run for the open Senate seat.
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is retiring, creating an open seat and what is likely to be one of the most closely-watched races in the 2022 cycle.
Democrats are hoping to flip the seat. Fetterman's win on the Democratic side was decisive, but he suffered a stroke due to a heart condition just two days before the primary election. His wife, Giselle Fetterman, told CNN on Tuesday that he may not be back on campaign trail until July.
