Montco's Val Arkoosh Announces Run For U.S. Senate

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh announced a run for U.S. Senate Monday, seeking to fill the seat left by outgoing Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. It sets up a primary battle with another highly visible Pennsylvania Democrat, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who announced his candidacy in February.

Arkoosh has been the voice of Montgomery County's pandemic response, and received national attention in the early days when the county was the regional epicenter of the virus.

“We’re at a critical moment," she said Monday, in announcing her candidacy. "I’m fiercely determined to do what’s right -- to stand up to Trump Republicans and push back on their harmful agenda."

The open Pennsylvania seat is seen as vital to the future balance of power. With Toomey's retirement, it becomes the only open U.S. Senate seat in a state won by President Biden.

A medical doctor who later earned a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins, Arkoosh was previously President of the National Physicians Alliance. She has been the chair of the three-person Board of Commissioners since 2016, when she succeeded current Attorney General Josh Shapiro. She cited lowering the cost of healthcare, rebuilding infrastructure with union jobs, and climate change as some of her key issues. Her campaign announcement noted how far the county has come in past several years: a growing economy, improved roads and bridges, a consistently high bond rating.

Arkoosh has also made herself into a regional leader, and in a foreshadowing perhaps of her run against Fetterman, was sharply critical of decisions made by the Wolf Administration and the Department of Health surrounding the vaccine.

"Pennsylvanians deserve to have a voice -- one that will cut through all the noise and get things done," she said. "I’m determined to be that voice for you.”

Fetterman, 51, ran for the Democratic Senate nomination in 2016, but lost to Democrat Katie McGinty. She then lost to Toomey. Fetterman was elected lieutenant governor in 2018. Before her election to county commissioner, Arkoosh also had a failed run at Congress, losing a 2014 House of Representatives bid to current Rep. Brendan Boyle.

Fetterman, a champion of marijuana reform and the progressive wing, may have more name recognition across Pennsylvania due to his position in state office. But Arkoosh is well known in the most populous region of the state, the greater Philadelphia area, a crucial area in any state election.

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia is also running for the Democratic nomination.

On the Republican side, Montgomery County's Sean Gale, brother of Commissioner Joe Gale, has also announced his candidacy for Toomey's seat.