The blockbuster Senate race between Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) was a nail-biter in the final weeks, but on Tuesday night, NBC projected Fetterman to win by just over a percentage point. (In the end, he won by almost five points.) Democrats flipped the seat held by the retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R).
It’s hard to believe how close this race got given that, in the last six months alone, the quack TV doctor has called abortion murder, said eight of his 10 houses don’t count because they’re rental properties, ignored allegations that his medical research killed more than 300 dogs, and spoke at a high-dollar fundraiser in front of Hitler’s car. Oh, also, he lives in New Jersey and calls a veggie tray “crudités.” Oz seemed to have very little grassroots support compared to Fetterman’s packed events, and he’s donated more than $27 million of his own money to his campaign.
Fetterman, meanwhile, supports codifying Roe v. Wade, legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage, and is generally a likeable guy with a fun online presence. He raised $2 million in less than 24 hours after Oz said during their debate that “local political leaders” should decide whether abortion is banned. Late last week, Oprah endorsed Fetterman, in a blow to the man whose TV career she launched.
The race tightened between Oz and Fetterman after a debate in which Fetterman struggled to articulate his thoughts, because he’s recovering from a stroke. Outlets including CNN and CBS also had ableist meltdowns over the fact that Fetterman uses closed-captioning in interviews. (Fetterman is recoveringwell, while Oz being a griftercreep is a permanent state.)
It bears repeating that Pennsylvania is a true swing state. Biden won it by just 1.2 percent—or about 82,000 votes—in 2020. The 2016 race was even tighter, with Trump beating Hillary Clinton by 0.7 percent, or 44,000 votes.
The Fetterman campaign continued its characteristic humor through it all, even serving crudités at their election night party.
Fetterman’s campaign expertly trolled Oz throughout the race, even paying Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi to do a July cameo video dragging Oz for moving to Pennsylvania so he could run. She concluded the video by saying: “I know you’re away from home and you’re in a new place…don’t worry, because you’ll be back home in Jersey soon. This is only temporary.”
