Meet Dave Oxman, the Philly doctor running for Congress who says healthcare is ‘broken as hell’

Dave Oxman has never run for office before. The intensive-care physician and medical school professor at Thomas Jefferson University has spent his career taking care of critically ill Philadelphians.

Now, he’s running as a largely unknown candidate in Pennsylvania’s Third Congressional District, a race that has already drawn in State Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat from Mount Airy, and State Sen. Sharif Street, a Democrat from North Philadelphia. Both lawmakers have served in Harrisburg for several terms, and Street is the state Democratic Party chair.

But Oxman, 58, of Bella Vista, has raised nearly $300,000 for his campaign already, not a small sum for a first-time candidate. He’s pitching himself as the unelected outsider in a crowded 2026 Democratic primary field where he hopes his background in medicine can be an asset.

“Too many Americans question if our party truly represents them, and see our leaders as disconnected or lacking the courage to stand up to special interests,” Oxman said in a release.

The heavily Democratic district’s seat, representing half of Philadelphia, will be open for the first time in more than a decade after U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans announced his plan to retire at the end of his term.

Oxman is not the first medical professional to run for office in the area. Tarik Khan, a nurse in the Philadelphia region, defeated an incumbent in the 2021 Democratic primary to represent part of Northwest Philadelphia. He went on to successfully win a seat in the Pennsylvania House. And Val Arkoosh, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and a former Montgomery County commissioner, is a physician who ran an unsuccessful primary campaign for U.S. Senate in 2022.

Oxman said he will make improving the nation’s healthcare system — and pushing back against the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration — his campaign’s top priority. He calls the nation’s system “broken as hell” in a video announcing his candidacy, in which he is dressed in medical scrubs. He has vowed not to take contributions from corporate PACs.

“America has the greatest healthcare in the world, but what does it matter when so many Americans can’t access it or face financial ruin when they do?” he says in the video.

Oxman was born in Mount Airy, raised in Wyndmoor, and graduated from Temple University’s medical school. He began working at Jefferson Health in 2010, where he has specialized in internal medicine, pulmonology, and critical-care medicine.

In an interview last week with The Inquirer, Oxman said he thinks Democrats are hungry for “something different.”

“As I speak to people, there are different opinions about what the Democratic Party needs to do but there is a unanimity that it can’t be more of the same. So I think being on the outside a bit works to my advantage,” he said.

“I’ve spent my entire career caring for people from all walks of life — it shouldn’t be surprising that someone with my background now feels they have the opportunity and duty to do something more."