Pat Toomey backs Mehmet Oz but won’t say the same about Doug Mastriano
Toomey has a long conservative record, but has been sharply critical of attempts to throw out the 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) is throwing his support to Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz but demurred when asked about GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
“I intend to be as helpful as I can be to Dr. Oz,” Toomey told The Dispatch, a conservative outlet whose leaders have often been critical of former President Donald Trump.
But when asked Tuesday about Mastriano, the controversial state senator who has pushed false election conspiracies and Christian nationalism, Toomey was more circumspect. “I don’t have anything to say about it,” he told the outlet.
Oz is competing with Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to replace Toomey, who isn’t seeking reelection. It’s one of the country’s most critical Senate races and could decide control of the chamber.
“Dr. Oz is a strong Republican candidate, who’s platform includes fixing our economic woes, restoring America’s energy independence, and stopping illegal immigration. I support his candidacy and look forward to being helpful to him in the upcoming election,” Toomey said a statement later provided to The Inquirer.
But his office said he had nothing to add regarding Mastriano.
» READ MORE: Was Doug Mastriano Trump’s Pa. ‘point person’ in fake elector plot? Or barely involved? Campaign remains silent.
Toomey, a devoted fiscal conservative, supported Trump in both 2016 and 2020 and backed most of his policies. But he sharply broke with the former president over his attempts to subvert the 2020 election results and throw out Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Mastriano was a leading figure in that effort.
It’s unclear exactly how Toomey might aid Oz, though he recently appeared at a Washington fund-raiser that included the candidate and the Senate’s Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).
As a candidate in 2016, Toomey fared better with suburban swing voters than Trump did, and he’s the most prominent Republican in statewide office in Pennsylvania. But since voting to convict Trump in the former president’s second impeachment trial, Toomey has had a rocky relationship with some Pennsylvania Republicans, and has been sharply criticized from some quarters, despite a long record of supporting conservative causes.
Toomey stayed neutral in the GOP primaries for governor and Senate.
“Dr. Oz welcomes and appreciates Sen. Toomey’s support,” said Oz spokesperson Brittany Yanick.