Montco's Val Arkoosh Reportedly Raises $1 Million in Senate Run

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — The Montgomery County commissioner who is seeking to become the first-ever woman elected as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania has reportedly raised one million dollars during the first three months of her campaign.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that Valerie Arkoosh, who is from Springfield Township, Montgomery County, and is also a medical doctor, had raised the one-million-dollar figure since beginning her run, although there was $625,000 left in her campaign account as of June 30.

A full detailed account of all campaign spending is expected to be released sometime in the middle of July.

Arkoosh is a Democrat who sits on the three-member board of commissioners in Montgomery County, which is Pennsylvania’s third-largest county, with more than 800,000 residents. It is also reportedly the second-wealthiest county in the commonwealth.

Arkoosh has served as board chair since late 2016, when she took over for then-chair Josh Shapiro, who since went on to become Pennsylvania’s Attorney General. She had originally been appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of commissioners in January 2015, and subsequently was elected to a full term, according to her bio on the county commissioners’ website.

On her campaign site, Arkoosh says she is most passionate about helping Pennsylvania families, and she touts her success in raising the minimum wage and keeping taxes low in Montgomery County as evidence that she can be equally effective in helping working families as a U.S. senator.

Arkoosh points to her 20-plus years working in medicine as being helpful when addressing things like gun violence, insurance company denials and disparities in healthcare based on race, gender and income.

“After all those years practicing medicine, I’ve learned that we have to be honest with ourselves and our patients about the challenges we’re facing – even when it isn’t what we want to hear – and take action to tackle those problems head on together,” Arkoosh says in a statement on her campaign site. “That’s why I’m running for U.S. Senate.

The bio on her county commissioners’ site says Arkoosh has brought innovative reforms to county government, and has improved services for children, military veterans and senior citizens “while ensuring an effective, transparent, and fiscally responsible government.”

Before holding public office, Arkoosh was a professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, her bio states.

Arkoosh, who was the first woman ever elected chair of Montgomery County’s Board of Commissioners, would also be the first woman from Pennsylvania to be elected to the U.S. Senate. There are currently 24 women in the U.S. Senate.

The Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race is one of the country’s most talked about, as it is poised to potentially change the balance of power in the Senate.

The state’s current U.S. Senator, Republican Pat Toomey, is not seeking reelection.