Democrat Fetterman declared winner in race for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania

By Edie Heipel

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 8, 2022 / 23:22 pm

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Democrat John Fetterman was declared the winner of Pennsylvania’s hotly-contested Senate race against Republican Mehmet Oz.

In the days leading up to Election Day, the two candidates were neck-and-neck in polls following growing alarm over Fetterman’s health instability due to a stroke he had in May and Oz’s leading performance in an Oct. 25 debate.

Shortly after news outlets reported the results Wednesday, Fetterman took to Twitter.

“It’s official. I will be the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. We bet on the people of Pennsylvania — and you didn’t let us down,” he wrote.

Oz had not yet issued a public statement at the time of publication. 

The issue of abortion featured prominently in the race.

Fetterman campaigned as a radically pro-abortion candidate, telling voters he was set on codifying Roe v. Wade and voiced his support for the extreme Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would ban all limits on the procedure. 

Unlike most Republican candidates in the cycle, Oz said he opposed the national 15-week abortion ban proposed by South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and would not vote for it.

Oz, a former surgeon and host of the Dr. Oz Show, faced questions about the legitimacy of his political viewpoints as a self-declared pro-life candidate who previously supported abortion. 

“I am not going to support federal rules that block the ability of states to do what they wish to do. The abortion decision should be left up to states,” Oz had said in the Oct. 25 debate with Fetterman.  

Oz also came under fire for openly supporting trans surgeries on minors on his national television show, giving a platform to children who underwent sex-change transitions.

Republicans also suffered defeat in the state’s gubernatorial election, where Rep. Doug Mastriano lost to Dem. Josh Shapiro. 

Edie Heipel is a former Political Correspondent for CNA's Washington, D.C. bureau. She previously worked in communications for Center for Renewing America, served in the Trump White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and has been a contributor to various outlets including The Federalist and The Charlotte Lozier Institute. She is a graduate of Wheaton College.