Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman has defeated Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz to flip a highly competitive Senate seat and sustain Democratic hopes of maintaining control of the upper chamber.
The win gives the party breathing room as it seeks to keep hold of its narrow Senate majority. It also serves as a major rebuke to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Oz in his competitive GOP primary despite concerns over the celebrity heart surgeon’s limited ties to the state.
In his winning campaign, Fetterman overcame questions about his fitness for office after suffering a stroke just days before the state’s primary and struggling through his debate with Oz. He still has issues with auditory processing and uses closed-captioning technology to understand spoken words.
“I’m so humbled,” Fetterman, wearing his signature hoodie, told his supporters early Wednesday morning. “This campaign has always been about fighting for everyone who ever been knocked down that ever got back up.”
