Dr. Val Arkoosh Drops Out Of Pennsylvania Senate Race
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Dr. Val Arkoosh, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, suspended her campaign for the U.S. Senate on Friday, according to a release. Below, is a full state from Arkoosh in regards to why she decided to withdraw her name from the race:
Each step I've taken in my life has been inspired by the people I've met along the way. As a physician, it was the patients I saw each day on the labor and delivery floor – pregnant moms managing diabetes without access to a grocery store in their neighborhood. Dads who had to miss the birth of a child for fear they'd lose their job. People denied insurance for a pre-existing condition.
There was just nothing I could do as a doctor to address those problems. That's why I took my fight for my patients outside the exam room and became a physician advocate for the Affordable Care Act. That fight has continued each day since. It is why I became the Chair of the Commonwealth's third-largest county, and it's in large part why I got into this race – because there is so much work that needs to be done to lift up Pennsylvania families.
Since launching this campaign, we've logged a lot of miles. I have met with workers, families, and small business owners. I've heard concerns from child care workers about how critical tackling our child care crisis is to our entire economy. I have met with families impacted by fracking and the climate crisis hurting Pennsylvania communities. And I've listened to the stories of Pennsylvania women on just how important it is they have access to abortion care.
For each of those Pennsylvanians, we cannot let anything stand in the way of a Democrat being elected to the U.S. Senate. The stakes are just too high. And it's become clear to me that the best way I can ensure that happens is to suspend my campaign today and commit to doing whatever I can to help ensure we flip this Senate seat in November.
I want to thank my supporters and express my gratitude for all we accomplished. We helped make sure issues like abortion rights and climate change were part of the conversation around flipping this critical seat. We earned support in every corner of the Commonwealth, with more than 40 local endorsements behind this campaign. And importantly, we used each day of this campaign to hold Republicans, like Dr. Oz, to account – for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, undermining our democracy by denying the results of the 2020 election, and opposing policies that will help Pennsylvania families like the Child Tax Credit and bipartisan infrastructure law. That work remains so important. And it will continue today, tomorrow, and the next day.
My name may not be on the ballot, but make no mistake, I will still be fighting every day to help win this election. There's too much at stake. I said from the beginning we would build a campaign about Pennsylvanians and for Pennsylvanians, and I will keep fighting for Pennsylvanians each and every day.
