Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick said Friday that he conceded to Mehmet Oz in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, clearing the way for the celebrity doctor backed by former president Donald Trump to advance to the general election in one of the year’s most significant races.
Oz will now face Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) in a pivotal battleground in the fight for control of the Senate. The race has been stuck in limbo for weeks, as Oz’s razor-thin lead triggered a recount and as Fetterman — a liberal candidate who easily won the Democratic nomination — recovers from a stroke that sidelined him just before the primary.
McCormick said Friday that he concluded he would not be able to make up the deficit between him and Oz after 17 days of “making sure that every Republican vote was counted.”
“It’s now clear to me, with the recount largely complete, that we have a nominee,” he said, noting that he called Oz earlier in the day to congratulate him.
Oz tweeted Friday evening that he “received a gracious phone call” from McCormick and said that with the primary over, they would ensure the Senate seat “does not fall into the hands of the radical left.”
Democrats are defending a narrow Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections. Pennsylvania, a battleground state where Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey is retiring, is seen as a critical front in the fight for control of the upper chamber of Congress.
The Republican primary, in which Trump endorsed Oz,...
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