Dr. Mehmet Oz's quest to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate is off to a rough start after failing to gain support from party activists. Following Oz's meeting with a group of conservative state committee members, he earned just one vote out of more than 100 in a straw poll. Last weekend, he had the opportunity to redeem himself when two groups of state committee members questioned the potential Senate candidates. In a straw poll from that day, he finished third. Blake Marles, chair of the Northeast Central Republican Alliance which was one of the groups that voted, suggested that Oz needed to reach out directly to conservative political members in Pennsylvania so they could get to know him and his ideology. It doesn't help that Oz doesn't have strong ties to Pennsylvania. He voted in New Jersey as recently as 2020. However, he's not alone as a few other candidates also lived in other states. Dr. Oz made headlines recently when he challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, to a debate. "Fauci got Covid wrong," Oz said in the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGM1FM3nnOk Oz has been outspoken about supporting key conservative values, but some right-wing voters have been suspicious of Oz's true beliefs since he formerly backed abortion rights, gun laws and President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. With his celebrity, Oz has been compared to former President Donald Trump. Oz is seeking to replace Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring, along with 11 other Republicans and 10 Democrats. “Dr. Oz is a conservative outsider, drawing large crowds of grassroots supporters everywhere he goes, including over 250 people in Old Forge just last week,” said Brittany Yanick, Oz’s communications director. “While he respects the process for the state party, his major focus is on spending time in our communities to hear how he can best serve Pennsylvanians. Dr. Oz is consistently speaking directly with voters and will continue to travel across the commonwealth to share his solutions to problems we are facing as a country.”