Pivotal Senate GOP race pits billionaire Ray Dalio’s former CEO

Billionaire hedge fund founder Ray Dalio finds himself inadvertently in the middle of a key congressional race that could determine the balance of power in the Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Dalio, who is co-chair of Bridgewater Associates, is personal friends with both Republican candidates vying for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat: Dr. Mehmet Oz and former Bridgewater CEO David McCormick.

Dalio called McCormick and Oz “two good friends of mine and two great men who have lived and personify the American Dream in different ways,” in a LinkedIn post he published in January about the Pennsylvania Senate race. A recent Franklin & Marshall College poll shows the race is wide open, with McCormick holding a small lead in the GOP primary.

The closely watched primary race on May 17 and later general election to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey this fall could play a key role in determining the balance of power in the Senate. Cook Political Report marks the seat as a toss-up. And with the Senate currently split 50-50, such contests are critical in determining which party will control that chamber in 2023 and beyond.

Dalio, who has an estimated net worth of $20 billion, hasn’t donated to a political campaign since the 2016 election cycle, according to campaign finance disclosures. He’s recently came under fire for his comments on CNBC about China’s human rights abuses, comparing their government’s authoritarian rule to a “strict parent.” Dalio tried to clarify his remarks on Twitter.

Oz and McCormick are each publicly vying to distance themselves from Dalio’s pro-China comments and are campaigning as pro-Trump America First candidates, despite their own past ties to China.

McCormick, who resigned in January, reportedly told staff while he was still Dalio’s CEO that he disagreed with his boss’s views on China. Meanwhile, TV host and longtime physician Oz and and a super PAC that’s supporting his campaign have been blasting Bridgewater in campaign ads over its work in China.

Yet Oz has long benefited from Dalio’s financial support for his many charitable initiatives, a review of tax disclosures shows. A representative for Bridgewater declined to comment beyond Dalio’s LinkedIn post.

Oz and Dalio have been working together on philanthropic efforts for years, although the physician disagrees with the billionaire hedge fund founder on the issue of China, Brittany Yanick, a spokesperson for Oz’s campaign, confirmed to CNBC in a statement.

“Dr. Oz has supported philanthropic efforts with many people, including Mr. Dalio. Dr. Oz disagrees with Mr. Dalio about China, but Dr. Oz would never throw a friend under the bus just because he has decided to run for office,” Yanick said in an email on Tuesday.

The Dalio Foundation, which Ray Dalio runs, has donated over $1.5 million to Oz’s foundation, HealthCorps, since 2011, according to 990 disclosure reports reviewed by CNBC. Oz founded it over 10 years ago with the goal of “saving lives by addressing health…