Valerie Arkoosh
Valerie Arkoosh is an officeholder of the Pennsylvania Secretary of Human Services.
Arkoosh (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Pennsylvania. She did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.
Arkoosh was a 2014 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 13th Congressional District of Pennsylvania.[1] She lost the Democratic nomination in the primary on May 20, 2014.[2]
Biography
Arkoosh is a medical physician and university professor who serves as the president of the National Physicians Alliance. In her capacity as president of the organization, she has been able to boost her public profile and name recognition through various television appearances -- most notably on Martha Stewart and MSNBC -- where she spoke in support of the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care reform bill commonly referred to as "Obamacare," as well as on the subject of Medicaid.[3]
After graduating from Northwestern University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in economics, Arkoosh attended the University of Nebraska Medical College, where she received her M.D. in 1986. Her post-graduate training consisted of one year at Philadelphia's Presbyterian University of Pennsylvania Hospital, from 1986-1987, followed by three years as an anesthesiology resident at Jefferson Medical College. Arkoosh also holds a master's degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, having returned to school nearly 20 years after earning her M.D. to pursue a master's in public health.[4]
As described on her faculty profile, Arkoosh also considers herself an expert in health policy and state-based health care reform.[4]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Valerie Arkoosh did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2014
Arkoosh's campaign website listed the following issues:[5]
- Creating Jobs & Growing Our Economy
- Excerpt: "Creating good jobs in our communities with good benefits that pay a family wage and ensuring economic security for all Pennsylvania families must be our top priority."
- Quality, Affordable Health Care
- Excerpt: "As a practicing physician in Philadelphia over the past decade, I’ve seen too many families struggling to afford the basic health care they deserve. I’ve seen too many families forced to forgo checkups, screenings, and vital medication so they can put food on the table. And I’ve seen our health care system let down those who need it most."
- Improving Our Education System
- Excerpt: "The economic downturn has put the American Dream in jeopardy for many families. And, unless we act now, our children will be worse off than we are. Over the last two years over $1 billion has been cut from our schools, leaving teachers without the resources they need to educate and train our children to build a strong and successful 21st century workforce."
- Protecting Reproductive Rights
- Excerpt: "In Congress, I will use my background as a physician to improve access to quality, affordable health care for women, including family planning and cancer screenings. I strongly support Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose, along with her family, physician and faith, what is best for her in any given situation."
- Equality for All Pennsylvanians
- Excerpt: "Growing up, my parents always taught us that all people should be treated equally with rights and respect, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or background. Everyone deserves a fair shot at the American dream."
- Reducing Gun Violence
- Excerpt: "In Congress, I will fight for commonsense laws to reduce gun violence, including expanding background checks, renewing the ban on military-style weapons and banning the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines."
Elections
2022
See also: United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania
The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Fetterman (D) | 51.2 | 2,751,012 |
 | Mehmet Oz (R) | 46.3 | 2,487,260 | |
 | Erik Chase Gerhardt (L) | 1.4 | 72,887 | |
 | Richard Weiss (G)  | 0.6 | 30,434 | |
 | Daniel Wassmer (Keystone Party of Pennsylvania) | 0.5 | 26,428 | |
 | Quincy Magee (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
 | Ronald Johnson (Constitution Party) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 5,368,021 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Everett Stern (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania
John Fetterman defeated Conor Lamb, Malcolm Kenyatta, and Alexandria Khalil in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Fetterman | 58.6 | 753,557 |
 | Conor Lamb | 26.3 | 337,498 | |
 | Malcolm Kenyatta | 10.8 | 139,393 | |
 | Alexandria Khalil | 4.2 | 54,460 | |
| Total votes: 1,284,908 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Walter Sluzynsky (D)
- John McGuigan (D)
- Kyle Norton (D)
- Alan Shank (D)
- Larry Johnson (D)
- Kevin Baumlin (D)
- Sharif Street (D)
- Valerie Arkoosh (D)
- Lew Tapera (D)
- Eric Orts (D)
- Kael Dougherty (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Pennsylvania on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mehmet Oz | 31.2 | 420,168 |
 | David McCormick | 31.1 | 419,218 | |
 | Kathy Barnette | 24.7 | 331,903 | |
 | Carla Sands | 5.4 | 73,360 | |
 | Jeff Bartos | 5.0 | 66,684 | |
 | Sean Gale | 1.5 | 20,266 | |
 | George Bochetto | 1.1 | 14,492 | |
| Total votes: 1,346,091 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John Debellis (R)
- Max Richardson (R)
- John Eichenberg (R)
- Vince Fusca (R)
- Martin Rosenfeld (R)
- Bobby Jeffries (R)
- Richard Mulholland (R)
- Sean Parnell (R)
- Ronald Johnson (R)
- Craig Snyder (R)
- David Xu (R)
2014
- See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2014 or See also: Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District elections, 2014
Arkoosh ran for election to the U.S. House, representing the 13th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. Arkoosh lost the Democratic nomination in the primary on May 20, 2014. She was defeated by Brendan Boyle.[2][6]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brendan Boyle |
40.6% | 24,524 | ||
| Marjorie Margolies | 27.4% | 16,528 | ||
| Valerie Arkoosh | 16.7% | 10,066 | ||
| Daylin Leach | 15.4% | 9,313 | ||
| Total Votes | 60,431 | |||
| Source: Results via Associated Press |
||||
Race background
On February 26, 2013, PoliticsPA and The Hill previewed three Pennsylvania races that were showing early promise of a competitive primary or a possible partisan switch. The 13th District was included in their list. Of the eighteen total House seats up for election in 2014, Republicans held thirteen.
The 13th District seat was held by a Democrat, Allyson Schwartz. Schwartz vacated her seat in 2014 because she ran for governor against incumbent Tom Corbett (R).[7]
| Democratic primary - U.S. House, Pennsylvania, District 13 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Marjorie Margolies | Brendan Boyle | Daylin Leach | Valerie Arkoosh | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Global Strategy Group (internal poll) August 13-15, 2013 | 43% | 15% | 7% | 2% | +/-4.8 | 422 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Endorsements
Arkoosh's congressional campaign was endorsed by:
- The Women's Campaign Fund[8]
Media
|
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Arkoosh and her husband, Jeff Harbison, live in Springfield Township with their three children.[9]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Valerie + Arkoosh + Pennsylvania + Congress"
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ PoliticsPA, "Arkoosh files for Congress in Schwartz' seat," March 14, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Associated Press, "Pennsylvania - Summary Vote Results," May 20, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedpoliticspa - ↑ 4.0 4.1 University of Pennsylvania Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, "Valerie A. Arkoosh, M.D., MPH," accessed April 11, 2013
- ↑ ValArkoosh.com, "Issues," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Valerie Arkoosh candidate filing," accessed March 12, 2013
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Allyson Schwartz files to run for Pa. governor," April 8, 2013
- ↑ PoliticsPA, "PA -13: Hoyer backs Margolies," June 24, 2013
- ↑ ValArkoosh.com, "About Val," accessed March 18, 2014
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