Now it’s official. John Fetterman has won Pennsylvania’s crucial U.S. Senate race, flipping a Republican seat as he recovers from a stroke.
His victory gives Democrats hope they can keep control of the closely divided chamber.
Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, defeated Mehmet Oz, the quiet, wealthy heart surgeon who became a TV celebrity in the presidential battleground state.
John Fetterman waves to supporters after heading to an election night party in Pittsburgh. Credit: AP
Fetterman credited his “every county, every vote” campaign strategy in which the tattooed, hoodie-wearing candidate sought to bring the Democratic Party back to predominantly white working-class areas that were increasingly rejecting the party.
“And that’s exactly what happened,” Fetterman, 53, told a cheering crowd at a concert hall in Pittsburgh.
“We stuck them in. We held the line. I never expected us to turn those red counties blue, but we did what we had to do and had that conversation in each of those counties.”
Along the way, he had promised to be the Democrats’ “51st vote” to pass foundational legislation to protect abortion rights, health care, same-sex marriage, unions and voting, as well as to raise the minimum wage.
He compared his stroke, which he had in May, to being beaten and adopted it as a campaign mission.