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Republican candidate and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz has been living with his wife at his in-laws’ home near Philadelphia as he wages his campaign to win Pennsylvania’s crucial U.S. Senate race. According to voting records, it’s also the address where Oz is registered to vote.
The Oz campaign says he’s residing there while the nearby home he bought for $3.1 million in December of last year is renovated. And, during a recent back-and-forth with his opponent, Lt. Gov, John Fetterman, over which candidate is more out of touch with the average voter, Oz took a jab at the Democrat for having purchased a home from a family member for $1. Allegheny County records show Fetterman did buy a Braddock property for $1, and that the value of that property is now $238,200.
In one tweet attacking the purchase, Oz writes, “Only in John Fetterman’s world can you go house hunting and get a home for $1.”
But it turns out that is possible in Oz’s world too. An NBC News property records search showed that the candidate’s mother-in-law, Emily Lemole, also bought her home in the Bryn Athyn neighborhood for $1 in August of 2000. The appraised value of that home currently stands at $509,820.
When asked for comment about the similar purchases, the Oz campaign’s Communications Director Brittany Yannick told NBC news that “this is completely different. This house was already in the Lemole family. Doctor Oz and Lisa pay rent while their other home in Bryn Athyn is being renovated. John Fetterman bought his house for a dollar from his sister, and receives rent money from his mom and dad. Doctor Oz has had a real job. John Fetterman’s only job appears to be trying to release convicted murderers onto the streets.”
Fetterman has also gone after Oz for owning multiple homes outside of Pennsylvania. At a recent campaign stop NBC News attended, he asked the audience, “Who here owns ten homes?”
With inflation in the spotlight for many voters, which candidates attacks land (if any) could move the margin in what could be a tight race in state that may determine the balance of power in the Senate.