On Tuesday Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the Dr Oz show announced on his website that he is running for the US Senate in Pennsylvania. The medical expert, a Republican, hopes to fill the open seat retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is vacating.

"Pennsylvania needs a conservative who will put America first," Oz said in a video on his campaign website.

"During the pandemic, I learned that when you mix politics and medicine, you get politics instead of solutions. That's why I am running for the U.S. Senate: to help fix the problems and to help us heal," he added.

The race in Pennsylvania was shaken up by the departure of candidate Sean Parnell, who was leading after being endorsed by former President Donald Trump. This is a high-profile race that may decide whether the Democrats will be able to hold on to their razor-thin majority in the Senate.

Oz joins a Republican primary field that includes Philadelphia businessman Jeff Bartos. And Carla Sands, who served as Trump’s US ambassador to Denmark is also running. It has also been rumored that David McCormick, a former Treasury Department official under President George W. Bush is interested.

The Dr. also has some connections to Trump. In 2018, Trump appointed him to the Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. And he was reappointed in 2020.

His interest in jumping into the Senate race was reported months ago. Both Politico and the Washington Free Beacon suggested he wanted to run. In 2007 he described himself as a “moderate Republican.”

Dr Oz puts TV show on hold

Oz is an Ohio native who attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and also got a degree from Wharton Business School.

Although he lived for years in the Keystone state area he moved to New Jersey. But last year he registered to vote at his in-laws' house in Montgomery County in the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Bryn Athyn.

The 61-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon and TV personality gained media traction when he became a medical expert for the Oprah Winfrey Show. 

 He ultimately launched his own syndicated talk show the Dr Oz show in 2009. It is produced by Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

The show has been renewed through the 2022-2023 season. But it now appears to be on hold. The Dr Oz show’s website is now his official Senate campaign site.

In his video, Oz also criticized the fed's response to Covid-19, saying that "Washington got it wrong."

"They took away our freedom without making us safer," he said.