Celebrity Physician And U.S. Senate Candidate Dr. Oz Meets With Montgomery County GOP

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Mehmet Oz, the celebrity physician who goes by the moniker 'Dr. Oz,' and who recently announced a run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, says he sat down with Montgomery County Republican officials during a meeting Wednesday.

"I spent time with the Montgomery County GOP earlier today in Blue Bell," Oz posted to social media Wednesday. "I'm looking forward to working with them to move our region and state forward!"

The Montgomery County Republican Committee posted on its own Facebook page words of appreciation to Oz for stopping by and meeting with volunteers.

Oz's recent Senate campaign announcement has been met with some pushback, since he has apparently lived in neighboring New Jersey and New York for many years, although the candidate says his wife is from Pennsylvania, his in-laws raised their family in Bryn Athyn, and that he attended school in the Keystone State decades ago.

Some comments on the Montgomery County GOP's Facebook post suggest not everyone from the region is on board with the celebrity doctor's U.S. Senate run.

"Carpetbagger. I will only vote for someone who has lived in Pennsylvania for a long stretch," posted William M. Ackerman. "The man probably eats subs rather than hoagies."

Russell Rubert posted that while Oz "may have decent views, he may not be a bad guy," the fact that Oz has not resided in Pennsylvania for decades makes voters suspicious behind his motives for his Senate run.

"I prefer to support someone who was born here or has lived here for a good length of time," Rubert posted. "Not just moved here last year so he could use us to gain political office."

According to media reports, Oz says he relocated to Pennsylvania within the past year and that he had been registered to vote using his in-laws' Bryn Athyn home address.

A story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that while candidates running for Pennsylvania state legislature must be residents for four years, the requirements for U.S. Senate candidates are less strict.

“To be elected a U.S. senator, you only have to be a resident of the state when elected,” Clifford Levine, a Pittsburgh attorney, was quoted as saying in the story.

Oz's campaign website lists an address on Philmont Avenue in Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County.