In Pennsylvania’s pivotal midterm elections, Outback Steakhouse’s attempt to back a pro-business candidate went over like a week-old Bloomin’ Onion.
Mehmet Oz, a talk-show doctor endorsed by Donald Trump, was hoping to win the Keystone State’s hotly contested U.S. Senate seat—and had promised that he would “not take one dime of corporate PAC money.” But some companies’ political action committees donated anyway, wooed by Oz’s opposition to environmental regulations and tax hikes—stances that won him the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement as a “probusiness champion.”
In July, the PAC of Outback’s publicly traded owner, Tampa-based Bloomin’ Brands, donated $2,500 to Oz. To be sure, that’s a pittance for the restaurant operator, which is on track
