Philly Democrat Endorses Dr Oz For Senate, Citing Public Safety

Even ahead of the upcoming Nov 8 midterm elections, rampant crime is already taking a toll on Democratic candidates. Now, some of the damage being inflicted by people in their own party. 

That reality was underscored on Friday when Philadelphia Democrat Tom Knox endorsed Republican senatorial candidate Mehmet Oz in the tightly-contested race for U.S. Senate pitting Oz against Democrat John Fetterman.  

“I am a lifelong Democrat,” said Knox. “I have met with John Fetterman, and I personally like him. But I am sad to say, as a resident of Philadelphia, that our city has become increasingly dangerous, and John Fetterman’s policies on crime will make things much worse.”

Knox is a former deputy mayor of Philadelphia under prominent Democrat Ed Rendell. He’s since run for the mayor’s office himself, as well as the governor’s mansion. 

“I love Philadelphia, and I am saddened by what is happening to it,” said Knox. “I am encouraging Democrats who share my concerns with Fetterman’s long-standing policies to put party affiliation aside and support Dr. Oz for U.S. Senate. Dr. Oz is smart, hard working, and a man of integrity who will work tirelessly to make our streets and city safe once again.”

The RealClearPolitics poll average for the race shows a significant tightening since the summer. Fetterman’s August lead of 8.7% has been sliced in half — to 4.3%. However, RealClearPolitics notes that — going back to 2016 — similar polls have underestimated GOP support by 5.5%. Applying that factor, Oz may actually be up 1.2%.  

On Oct 4, the Cook Political Report moved the race from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up.” Bloomberg credits a barrage of crime-themed ads by the Oz campaign for the erosion of Fetterman’s support, and the Daily Beast‘s Eleanor Clift notes that Fetterman’s negative ratings have leapt by 17 points since the crime-themed ad blitz began in August. 

A recent, nationwide Monmouth poll found that crime is the second-ranked concern of voters (72%) behind inflation (82%). Other polls show Americans have more confidence in Republicans to address both issues.  

Like other major cities, Philadelphia has been plagued by crime under progressive mayor Jim Kenney and district attorney Larry Krasner.

Nearly 200 Philadelphians under 18 have been shot already this year.  One of the latest teen fatalities happened Thursday night during a major gun battle in the city’s infamous, drug-decayed Kensington neighborhood: 

Ring camera video shows automatic weapons being used during a shooting in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.https://t.co/Q0VMH4n36J pic.twitter.com/NeFux6ATiK

— The National Desk (@TND) October 7, 2022

That violence came while the city was still reeling from the death of a 14-year old as four teenagers unleashed a 64-round, afternoon gun ambush next to Roxborough High School high school…as well as this disturbingly random murder of a man walking down the street: 

#Philadelphia #breaking

BREAKING NEWS: PPD believes that the Roxborough shooters may also be involved in the random murder of 23y/o recent temple grad Everett Beauregard and ONE OTHER MURDER.

Below video is the random murder of Everett Beauregard pic.twitter.com/Ymt0zaK0i0

— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) October 5, 2022

As you can see, Philly criminals feel free to operate in broad daylight, which would seem to explain why a Democrat like Knox would think something has to change:   

#Philadelphia

NEW VIDEO: WANTED FOR MURDER and multiple shootings.

This group is caught on camera TWICE shooting dozens of rounds. They shot a victim on the 600 block of N 13th street over 20 times, killing the victim

4 days earlier they shot an 8yr old girl.BOTH on video pic.twitter.com/eJrcWWp4dK

— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) October 5, 2022