Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Valerie Arkoosh announces run for U.S. Senate

Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Valerie Arkoosh has announced her run for the U.S. Senate. 

Dr. Arkoosh was unanimously elected the Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 2016.

Since then, she has served the community by using her skills developed in her 23-year career as a physician.

"As a physician, Val spent her career diagnosing problems and getting to work to fix them. But too often, instead of fixing the hardest problems, Washington makes them worse. That’s why she’s now running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Val is currently serving Pennsylvania as the Chair of the Commonwealth’s third-largest county," her campaign officially stated. 

Arkoosh is seeking the Democratic nomination to fill the open seat left by Senator Pat Toomey. This is widely considered Democrats’ best opportunity to pick up a U.S. Senate seat.

"We’re at a critical moment. I’m fiercely determined to do what’s right -- to stand up to Trump Republicans and push back on their harmful agenda. Instead, we’ll build a future that lifts people up, rebuild our infrastructure with good paying union jobs, protect our planet by addressing the climate crisis, and finish the job we started to lower the cost of health care," said Val Arkoosh. "That’s why I’m running for United States Senate. Pennsylvanians deserve to have a voice -- one that will cut through all the noise and get things done. I’m determined to be that voice for you." 

Pennsylvania is currently the only open Senate seat in a state where President Biden won. According to her campaign, Montgomery County, which Val represents, is part of Philadelphia’s collar counties, "long crucial to winning statewide elections." 

Also running for U.S. Senate is Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor John Fetterman. It will be the second bid for U.S. Senate by the plainspoken 51-year-old Democrat. Fetterman is by far the highest-profile name in Pennsylvania politics to show interest in running.

The two are also joined by a Philadelphia Democrat, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who is running for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat in next year’s election. Kenyatta, 30, is in his second term in the state House of Representatives.

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