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Dr. Kevin Baumlin Announces 2022 U.S. Senate Run

A Philadelphia doctor has joined the 2022 Democratic race for U.S. Senate. 

Dr. Kevin Baumlin, the chief of emergency and urgent care services at Pennsylvania Hospital, announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate race on Thursday. 

“The challenges we face come crashing through my doors every day,” said Baumlin in a press release. “It’s not just COVID, it’s gun violence. It’s homelessness. It’s the opioid crisis.” 

“My staff and I see 45,000 patients a year in the emergency department,” he continued in the release about his entrance into the race. “The problems that come through my doors have been ignored for far too long. No more.”

Baumlin, who also serves as the Chair of Emergency Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital, released an announcement video just under 3 minutes long that highlights his experience in health care and touches on a few of his priorities that he’d address if elected to the U.S. Senate. 

“I’m running for Senate because Pennsylvanians are dying,” Baumlin says in the campaign video. “For millions of families, our healthcare system has been in crisis for their entire lives–especially amongst older adults, and Black and Brown communities.”

“I want to go to Washington to address the root causes of the problems that come through my doors,” Baumlin continues later in the video. “Older adult care, lower drug prices, jobs created through infrastructure investments, affordable college education for all, affordable and accessible broadband. Free and affordable childcare to promote equity in the workplace.”

“We have to be honest about systemic racism that’s been holding Black and Brown people down for centuries,” Baumlin said.

Baumlin, who has been an emergency room doctor for nearly 30 years, also specifically talked about seeing the impact of COVID-19 first-hand in the video. 

“We’ve seen 600,000 lives lost and 25,000 Pennsylvanians. These are real people who are dying,” Baumlin said. “They’re dying because of disinformation, and lack of the ability of our leaders to put people first instead of their political agenda.”

“People in power, when they don’t do things right, they kill people,” he continued.

Baumlin lives in Philadelphia with his husband, Patrick, and their boxer, Duke. 

Baumlin, who is a first time candidate for federal office, has assembled a campaign team that includes multiple individuals who have worked for different campaigns across the nation. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Baumlin has hired Robert Dempsey, the former national states director for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, as his campaign manager, Emily Wurgaft Egan, formerly of the Clinton Foundation and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC, as the campaign’s finance director, Rich Schlackman, president of RMS Associates, as a senior adviser, and Steve Ayscue, who the Inquirer notes is a “longtime political operative in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” will be doing research for the campaign.

Several Democrats have also announced their entrance into the 2022 race. 

Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia), former Norristown Borough Council President John McGuigan have all launched their campaigns for Senate. State Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission for U.S. Senate nearly two weeks ago and formally announced his exploratory committee on Friday. 

According to the FEC website, Brandaun Dean, Larry Johnson, Alexandria Khalil, Kyle Norton, and Alan Shank have also filed statements of candidacy for the Democratic primary. 

Several other Democrats are reportedly weighing a run for the office as well. 

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, others potential Democratic candidates include Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester), Conor Lamb (D-Allegheny), and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. 

On the GOP side, Kathy Barnette, a former GOP congressional candidate and conservative commentator, Jeff Bartos, a Montgomery County real estate developer and former Lt. Governor candidate, Sean Gale, an attorney, and Everett Stern, a businessman and HSBC whistleblower, have formally announced their entrance into the race to succeed outgoing GOP Sen. Pat Toomey. Other Republicans that have filed with the FEC include John DeBellis, Bobby Jeffries, and Martin Rosenfeld. 

Other Republicans that are reportedly interested in seeking the GOP nomination according to Politico include, Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Butler) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Allegheny), former Congressman Ryan Costello (R-Chester), former Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, former gubernatorial candidate Paul Mango, former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, former U.S. Ambassador Carla Sands, business consultant Craig Snyder, and former congressional candidate Sean Parnell.

6 Responses

  1. Crissy isn’t running and we need Conor Lamb where he is.
    Pennsylvania Democrats have got to get behind Lt Gov John Fetterman now with money and verbal support.
    Democrats have got to win this election for US Senate. Winning elections is all that matters now!

  2. Dr Baumlin has been a Republican most of his adult life. Why is he now running as a Democrat?
    And we have Lt Gov John Fetterman in the race…a lifelong Democrat with a record of success as Mayor of Braddock, Pa. Why would Baumlin try to split the Democratic vote now?

  3. What’s killing people is a for-profit health insurance industry that denies health care to people, or puts them into medical bankruptcy. But Baumlin ignores that issue. He says nothing about the ACA, a public option, or Medicare For All. What’s the point of featuring your profession in an introductory video if you’re not going to mention the need for health care reform?

  4. You’d think he had enough work to do already keeping those 45,000 patients alive. Use your talents and training there, where you do the most good.

  5. Two Docs…what is a Doc to do? lots of competition in that Philadelphia lane as well. Waiting for Chrissie and Conor

    1. Chrissy** and she won’t run because of her ties to Chinese sweatshops. It isn’t the right environment for her. Now Conor would be smart to run.

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