A GOP Senate candidate bragged that he's not vaccinated but financial disclosures show he's making money from companies that make COVID-19 vaccines

Kelsey Vlamis,Dave Levinthal
Updated ·2 min read
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  • GOP Senate candidate for Ohio Mark Pukita said last week he hasn't been vaccinated against COVID-19.

  • Pukita's Senate financial disclosure indicates he owns stock in Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.

  • He has also criticized big tech but the disclosure shows he also has holdings in Apple and Facebook.

Republican US Senate candidate Mark Pukita of Ohio, who bragged last week that he has not received the COVID-19 vaccine, is making money from companies that produce the vaccine, a new disclosure filed with the US Senate indicates.

Pukita, an IT executive, holds up to $50,000 in Johnson & Johnson stock, making up to $1,000 in dividends in the past year, according to a financial disclosure viewed by Insider.

The disclosure also indicates he owns up to $15,000 in Pfizer stock, making up to $1,000 in dividends in the past year.

Pukita also has personal stock investments of up to $15,000 each in Thermo Fisher Scientific and Abbott Laboratories. Both companies manufacture COVID-19 tests.

During a candidates' forum last week in Columbus, Ohio, Pukita stated he was the only candidate in the crowded GOP field who had not received the vaccine.

"It's one thing to talk, it's another thing to act," Pukita said, claiming he was out protesting against vaccine mandates and masks. "I'm also the only one up here... who's not vaxxed."

He also challenged fellow US Senate candidate Josh Mandel to share whether or not he's vaccinated. Mandel, who is considered the frontrunner in the race, declined to do so.

Pukita previously made headlines for a campaign ad he issued about Mandel that was criticized as antisemitic. Pukita denied the ad was anti-Jewish.

His campaign website says he is "not anti-vax but absolutely anti-force" and that Pukita is the "only Ohio US Senate candidate to state he has not vaxxed."

The website also calls for an "all-out attack on the SWAMP, deep state and big tech" and an end to the "unholy alliance of the Deep State and Big-Tech" but Pukita's Senate financial disclosure indicates he owns stock in several tech giants, including up to $50,000 each in Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Facebook (now Meta), and Alphabet (Google), as well as up to $100,000 in Microsoft.

Pukita did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The GOP Senate primary in Ohio also includes candidate JD Vance, who missed the deadline to file federally mandated financial disclosure forms and still has yet to do so.

Read the original article on Business Insider