Pennsylvania Senate Race

Shea Reisman

Pennsylvania’s general Election for Senate will take place on November 8th, 2022. Dr. Mehmet Oz is trailing his Democratic rival, John Fetterman, who’s health has been in poor condition lately. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May and has since been recovering. Fetterman stammers and keeps all remarks short, and has been receiving speech therapy to fix this issue. Oz is using Fetterman’s health against him in his campaign, blasting him for his refusal to debate and claiming that he is only refusing to hide his health problems. Although it is wrong to use Fetterman’s health against him, all politicians do the same thing. Voters are starting to agree with Oz, wondering if Fetterman can properly do this job even in poor health.

 

Donald Trump has endorsed Dr. Oz and held multiple rallies and events for Oz in recent months. This particular Senate race is very important for Trump, this will show how firm of a grasp Trump has on his voters in 2022. Although Trump has reportedly lost faith in Oz’s success, he is still continuing to rally. Trump still has faith in Oz only because he thinks so little of Fetterman, stating he believes that he is in worse health than Biden. Fetterman’s team has jabbed back a few times, like pointing out the fact that Oz does not live in Pennsylvania nor was he born here. Fetterman however, was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania. It is important for politicians to run for the state in which they’re from, because they best understand the issues of that state, and have pride for that state more than any other.

 

As of September 14th, John Fetterman has finally agreed to a debate with Mehmet Oz scheduled for October 25th. Voters feel as though there have been too many distractions in this Senate race, one being Fetterman’s stroke. To accommodate Fetterman’s recovery, his team is asking for unusual conditions for the upcoming debate. Oz is continuing the attacks on Fetterman, accusing him of lying about the condition of his health. Many voters believe Oz is going too far, ridiculing his opponent for his health issues. Will these personal attacks on Fetterman even be enough? According to a CBS News Poll, Fetterman leads Oz 52% to 47%. According to a CBS report, most Republicans wish their party had nominated someone else. Stay tuned on news sites to see how these debates and the election play out. 

CBS/YouGov Poll: Fetterman +5, Shapiro +11