Toomey Will Support Dr. Oz But Stays Mum on Mastriano

Pennsylvania’s retiring senator had previously declined to endorse in the race for his seat.

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Retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is throwing his support behind Trump-endorsed Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz, The Dispatch has learned. “I intend to be as helpful as I can be to Dr. Oz,” Toomey said in an interview in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. It’s unclear whether his support will translate into an appearance on the campaign trail. “I don’t know what form it takes, but I’m going to be helpful.”

But Toomey wasn’t so candid with his thoughts on Pennsylvania Republicans’ gubernatorial nominee. In keeping with his months-long neutrality in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, Toomey wouldn’t say whether he plans to support or campaign against 2020 election-denying Republican gubernatorial nominee and state Sen. Doug Mastriano. “I don’t have anything to say about it,” Toomey said Tuesday of Mastriano’s candidacy.

Toomey, who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial last year, has evaded questions about his prospective involvement in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races for months now. 

He declined to make an endorsement in either race ahead of Pennsylvania’s closely watched May 17 primaries, though he briefly broke his silence to warn against firebrand Senate candidate Kathy Barnette amid her 11th-hour polling surge. “There’s a lot that they—voters don’t know about her,” Toomey told Axios of Barnette, whose campaign came under fire for controversial comments about LGBT people and Muslims, among other unflattering revelations. (The Republican Senate primary ended with a recount between Oz and candidate Dave McCormick, though McCormick quickly conceded and endorsed Oz.)

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  1. R. James

    Pat Toomey has no problem sending troops to fight, to be maimed and to die in wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. But he will not pay for vets' healthcare from breathing in toxic fumes from burn pits used in those wars. Toomey and 40 of his fellow Republican Senators voted against the Pact Act, showing how much they really care about veterans. Toomey called the Healthcare bill for vets who got cancer from toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, a "slush fund", and lobbied 25 of his fellow Republicans to switch their vote and vote against the bill. Toomey wouldn't even meet with the veteran groups advocating for the bill. I can't wait until this Snake is out of the Senate. Disgraceful is not strong enough a word for his conduct.

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    Seth Higgins

    Audrey, this article was highlighted in the daily morning email "PoliticsPA", congrats! Toomey was the first person I ever voted for. Meanwhile, I've only ever seen Mastriano's campaign rep in my home, Elk County, in sweat pants. I don't think the guy owns of pair of jeans. He also managed to call my state rep part of the swamp at a local GOP meeting. My state rep is from a town of less than 500 named Coal Hollow and has only been in office since 2020 mind you...

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    Ed P

    Toomey’s great legacy will be failing to stand up to Trump until far too late, like every other elected Republican Senator still in office not named Romney.

    I’m all too aware. As a PA citizen, I wrote Toomey on a weekly basis highlighting those failures for 4 years.

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    1. R. James

      You can add screwing over veterans he voted to send to war to the list of Toomey's disgraceful behavior.

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  4. Counterpoint

    The Senate just gets better and better all the time. Trading out Portman for JD Vance, possibly losing Toomey for Senator Dr. Oz, and potentially getting Herschel Walker…

    Going to have to change the cliche from “The greatest deliberative body in the world” to “The greatest deliberative body housed in the US Capitol building.”

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      Ben Connelly

      That’s a good one

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      Rajeev

      If these guys get in the Architect of Capitol (AOC but not the Congresswoman) 2000+ employees will become the greatest deliberative body housed in the bulding.

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      Ed P

      Not likely Oz wins imo. He can’t turn out that populist vote. In fact its Fetterman who can…

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        Rajeev

        Hopefully but he's a con artist and we've seen how religious people get following Dr. Oz even before he went MAGA political. Republicans bailed out the Dems in 2010 by nominating several terrible candidates and took one guaranteed win to guaranteed loss (Delaware) and lost another state or two that would've been closer. If they do it again 12 years later it would be crazy.

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