Pennsylvania Hospital Emergency Medicine Chair Kevin Baumlin is now a candidate for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat.
Perelman School of Medicine professor Kevin Baumlin, a Democrat, has declared his candidacy for Pennsylvania’s United State Senate seat in 2022.
Baumlin, who is the chair of Pennsylvania Hospital's Emergency Medicine Department, co-founded the OAK Street Initiative, a nonprofit that recruits experts in various fields to produce articles and forums on topics such as education, gun violence, and infrastructure. In the upcoming Senate race, Baumlin will seek to use his experience working with doctors and patients to focus on education, fair pay, and equal access to service in Washington, WHYY reported.
Baumlin told WHYY he is prepared to take office despite his limited political experience because of the skills he has gained by helping patients work with the nation’s health care system.
“What we see are the impact of the failed policies of Washington, policies that just don’t work to tackle gun violence and the opiate crisis and hunger and immigration,” Baumlin told WHYY. “I know we can do better.”
The race to fill Senator Pat Toomey's (R-Pa.) Senate seat is anticipated to be one of the most competitive in the country. NBC News reported that the race will be a test of "progressive firepower in [the] post-Trump era,” with candidates such as lieutenant governor John Fetterman and state representative Malcolm Kenyatta both advocating for reforms including a $15 minimum wage, Medicare for All, and limiting corporate influence in politics.
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