Oz loans his Pennsylvania Senate campaign another $1 million
By David Wright, CNN
Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for US Senate in Pennsylvania, loaned his campaign an additional $1 million on October 20, according to a filing with the FEC.
Oz has loaned his campaign money from his personal fortune throughout his bid — including $7 million in the most recent third quarter — and his latest $1 million loan brings his cycle total to more than $22 million. Earlier this month, his opponent, Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, touted that none of his haul came from his personal bank account.
Oz has been consistently outraised by his opponent and Fetterman is banking on his financial advantage over Oz to pull him through the final weeks of the midterm campaign and secure one of Democrats’ best chances of flipping a Senate seat. Adding to Fetterman’s edge, President Joe Biden and other notable members of the party, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, fundraised for the Democratic candidate this week.
In the third quarter, covering July through September, Fetterman raised $22 million, while Oz raised about $8.9 million in addition to the $7 million he loaned his campaign.
At the end of the quarter entering October, Fetterman had a slight cash on hand lead over Oz, about $4.2 million to about $2.5 million. And over the final two and a half weeks of the race, Democrats are set to outspend Republicans by about $25.6 million to $18.7 million on the air, according to the latest totals from AdImpact.
Despite the significant fundraising advantage, Fetterman finds himself in a close race with Trump-backed Oz. After some polls found the Democrat with a double-digit lead over the summer, a CNN Poll of Polls average earlier this month showed Fetterman with the support of 50% of likely voters compared with 45% for Oz.
With nearly two weeks left until the midterm elections, Fetterman and Oz have zeroed in on undecided women voters in the Philadelphia suburbs where Biden outpaced Trump by nearly 300,000 votes.
The two Senate candidates will face off in their first and only debate Tuesday.
“I have conceded on everything possible to make sure he that he is able to participate in this debate. It is the only one he would agree to. He’s got closed captioning — whatever he needs,” Oz said on Fox on Saturday. “I just want him to show up on Tuesday so we can talk to Pennsylvania about our policies and let them see how extreme his positions have been.”
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CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.
