GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — She's a physician, business owner, pastor and, now, wants to add U.S. Senator to her resume.
Dr. Sherry O'Donnell is one of the four Republican candidates hoping to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate, filling the vacancy left behind by Debbie Stabenow, who's held that seat since 2001.
O'Donnell, who is originally from Watertown, Minnesota, earned her degree as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Oklahoma State University.
According to O'Donnell's campaign website, in 2008 she "launched Herbie Medical Clinic providing care to the underserved and uninsured. She continues to serve as medical director. She has traveled to 35 different countries leading short-term medical missions and disaster relief."
She first attempted to break into the political sphere in 2022, when she ran to represent the Republican Party in the race for Michigan's 5th Congressional District but lost against incumbent Tim Walburg.
O'Donnell sat down with FOX 17 to discuss her run for the U.S. Senate and why she said she deserves your vote come August 6.
*Below is a transcript of the interview. It has been edited for clarity. This conversation took place on June 24. The full interview can be found at the bottom of the article.*
What is your background that has led you to this position right now?
“I've been to 35 different countries on short-term missions, primarily disaster relief, over the past 15 or 20 years. When I was in college, I had an instructor tell me I was really searching — What's God's will for my life? What am I supposed to do? I knew medicine, but where and how and what field of medicine. Dr. Underhill said, 'Your greatest gift to the greatest amount of people meeting the greatest needs is ultimately God's will.' So, I've taken the skill-set of being a physician and taken it into 35 different countries to serve humanity, when they've suffered a terrible earthquake and their infrastructure is is demolished. The people have nowhere to receive health care, especially when they've all been injured. That's when I do. Because disaster relief is needed quickly, we usually have a team on ground within three to five days. So, I was in Ukraine when the war started. We sent an additional eight teams. We went on our dollar, not the taxpayer dollars. So, it's really taking the skill-set that I have, and that's really one of the reasons that I know that I will serve well in Senate because of the international experience I have (and) because of the medical experience I have. Serving the people is what I do best.”
How do you transition from serving people through health care to serving people through politics?
“COVID really taught me a lot of that, Max. When COVID first broke out, I was asked to serve in New York City because of my disaster relief experience. What I saw in New York City, I walked away saying, 'We can never, ever experience that again.' Between people, yes, going into nursing homes that were infected. Between, as a physician, I was asked to sign death certificates of patients that did not die of COVID, but they had COVID listed as their cause of death. We weren't allowed to prescribe medications that were safe and effective, far more than safe and effective than a vaccine. So what I saw, it's like, wait a second, we can't be doing this. The American people deserve to hear the truth. And Fauci was saying follow the science. And I wish somebody had followed it. And then he had the audacity to say he was the science. That was so wrong. So I started standing up locally, started standing with the parents at the school boards and saying, 'No, they're not domestic terrorist. They're responsible parents.' And saying, 'No, unmask our kids. Open the schools.' So I started advocating there, but the level of advocacy, Max, that I do with my patients every single day? For instance, if I order an MRI, the insurance company comes back and immediately says, 'Nope, you can't order that MRI.' Well, I've just seen the patient, and I can tell them that we do need the MRI or I wouldn't have ordered it. So I get on the phone and advocate, we get it passed through. That same level of working logistically, internationally. Working logistically. I've met with heads of state. I've met with presidents — Rwanda, I've met with the President, their ministers of health, working logistically. Those things will serve very, very well in Senate, and the level of advocacy that I have for my patients, I'm planning on doing for Michigan.”
You have had what a lot of people would consider to be controversial beliefs when it comes to the pandemic. I believe you've referred to it as the 'plandemic' before. For those who are unsure where they're going to vote this upcoming primary, and they don't necessarily trust your judgment when it came to the pandemic, how do you expect them to trust your judgment when it comes to their daily lives and helping make the decisions that are right for them?
“So much of what we're seeing now, I feel very vindicated in. I treated patients. None, zero of my patients, Max, were hospitalized during COVID. Three patients were hospitalized that did not get on protocol. Unfortunately, two of the three did not come out alive. Every single patient that I put on protocol, they survived. Every single one. Every one. I lost none. And what we're seeing now, with the information about the vaccines, and the numbers of myocarditis, the numbers of cancers, I feel vindicated. I felt early on, because I was in New York City, I learned a lot. And I think people are realizing, 'Oh, maybe they weren't so off track.' And I can tell you that I've been supported and endorsed by Dr. Malone, Dr. Dr. Peter McCullough, and even though, perhaps it was controversial in the beginning, I think what we're seeing in I was right. And I'll continue to advocate for the patients. I never forced anything on anybody. So, I informed patients, and they were able to make their informed consent.”
Finding success in Senate is going to require a lot more than just your background in the medical field. How do you make voters feel comfortable that you know what you’re doing when it comes to addressing other needs in their lives?
"It is more than health care, and I think that's one of the things that make me the best candidate, actually, because my background is so diverse. I'm a business owner. So do I understand inflation? Absolutely. And do I understand the chokehold right now that the government is putting on us, especially with the taxation? Absolutely. I'm one of the only candidates, I think the only candidate, that has signed No New Tax pledge. I will have my income transparent because I think that people need to know, where are the candidates, and then where are the legislators becoming so rich? They come into office moderate, and they leave millionaires. That's not my intent. We need to balance a budget, and as a business owner, I understand what that means to live within a balanced budget. So I'm a business owner. I am in the ministry. I have traveled worldwide, worldwide, 35 countries. Max, if I were to ask you right now, 'There was a terrible earthquake, and you name the country, Botswana, you're tasked to not only get there while the system is broken down, but lead a medical team, get there, know who you can work with, treat the people and then get back out. Ready, set, go. And by the way, please do it within a week.' Okay. That's a skill set. So yes, medicine, logistically, business owner, I'm ordained in the ministry. I stood up. I'm not owned by the hospital. Few doctors can say that. My practice is not owned. They wanted to buy my practice. I said, 'I'm sorry, not for sale.' Because I know, as soon as you're owned by somebody, you're owned by somebody. People have asked me on the trail, 'Doc, you sound amazing. How do we gain the confidence in you that they're not going to warp you when you get there?' I said, 'Do you know what? History will foretell the future? I'm not owned by the hospital. And it's taken some time that I've had to stand against that grain, and yet, I'm not gonna be bought out by DC.' I will stand for We the People. I am for the People. I am one of the People. So the significant experience that I have being a manager in in my own office, you know, running that practice for 20 some-odd years, I think it suits very, very well."
This is not the first time you've been on the campaign trail. Two years ago, you attempted to get a spot in the Michigan House in District 5, in a losing effort to Tim Walberg, the incumbent. What what did you learn from that, that makes you confident things are going to be different this time around?
“Well, several things. First off, I got 40% of vote. Not 51%. I was planning on going after that again, and people across the state started calling and saying, 'Doc, you ought to consider doing this.' I initially said 'No, I didn't want to do that.' Then I got four phone calls from D.C. I still didn't want to do that. Then I watched the movie Sound of Freedom. That's the other thing. I've been down the border. It's not just a talking point for me. So what did I learn in Congress? Or when I ran for Congress? My name got out there. I understand what's important to the people of Michigan. That hasn't changed. It's just gotten worse.”
“The things that I learned in Congress, I think, teed me up for this. I think the biggest thing that I learned, and probably the biggest thing that I'll take to D.C., is the ability to listen to my constituents. I listened to my patients every single day. Every single day. I hear what concerns them. I don't walk into the medicine and say, 'Here's your Prilosec for your stomachache. I listen to them, Max. When I listen to them, then we figure out the plan, what they need, what they want to do, and we move forward.”
What inspired this desire to get into this political space in the first place?
“I guess you'd have to say was inspired because I've hated politics, and I've always seen them as a den of liars and thieves. They could do their thing and I would do my thing and never shall the twain meet. Well during COVID, Max, they collided. What I saw when I was in New York City began to awaken me. What I saw then was I came back in Michigan, and I brought the police together, and I brought pastors together, when we were defunding the police and BLM was going around and burning cities down, I brought our communities together. We stood beautifully together to say, number one, we back the police, but let's bring the pastors and the police and the churches together. So what inspired me? Looking at the need, and somebody's got to do it. The same passion that I have to advocate for what's right for my patients, I will advocate. That level of advocacy is so deep, and you just don't turn away if you're told 'No' once. You know, if I did that, for the countries that I've gone to and I make a phone call? 'Well, no, we don't have the capacity to put up a team.' I wouldn't have gone anywhere. You keep pushing and keep prodding. This door leads to nowhwere. Well, what about over here? What about this door? And how do we go here? And how do we go here? So the inspiration came when I literally saw Sound of Freedom. There were multiple things that happened, you know, the phone calls that I started getting, and I really started contemplating, 'Good Gussie, could you really be asking me to do this Lord?' Then I saw the movie Sound of Freedom. When I realized that kids have targets on their back, somebody's got to protect them. I thought, 'You know what? I'll do it.'”
What makes you the best option to do that compared to the other three you're running against?
“First off, I'm the only one with a plan to close the border. Tom Homan, the former Director of ICE underneath Trump has endorsed me. General Flynn has endorsed me. Because they're not just talking points. For me, it's action. People could say they want to close the border. Really? What's your plan? What are you doing about it? You want to curb inflation? What are you doing about it? Hey, I am the doer. You asked me about the congressional campaign. My team called me the doctor 'Do.' D-O. It fit well because I am an osteopathic physician, but I get the job done. It's not just talking points. And that's one of the reasons that I feel so strongly about term limits because I think we were intended to go into office, do our job, and then get back out. But that personnel were supposed to come from the public sector. So who am I? Number one, I've got the best clean record. I would challenge you to check out the other records of my opponents. So number one, the cleanest record. Number two, I'm a business owner. Number three, as a physician, we need medical freedom like none before. We need people to say, 'Stop packing these mandates at us and stop telling us that we have to take vaccines when they're not even legitimately a vaccine.”
Does a clean record even matter anymore? I mean, we have Donald Trump running for President. He was convicted on 34 felony counts.
"I think clean record is important. I very much respect the rule of law. I think the rule of law, instead of weaponization, and political weaponization, is important. It should be the norm and not the exception, but yes, my clean record stands untarnished.
Speak to the people. Give them your final pitch about why Dr. Sherry O'Donnell deserves their vote.
"I deserve your vote because I am for you. I am the one that will stand up and has stood up and I'll continue to do so. I am not a recycled politician. We've got too much of that. If you're ready for something new, something fresh and not the same old, same old. We need to do something different than the same old, same old. Dr. Sherry O'Donnell running for United States Senate. Check out my website, docsherry2024.com. Let's get me past that primary finish line. I will serve you. I am for the People, of the People, by the People."
If you'd like to watch the full conversation with Dr. O'Donnell, click the video below.
Tuesday, August 6, 2024 is primary election day in Michigan. For more information, you can check out FOX 17's complete Election Guide.
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