2022 Midterm Elections | Races to follow: Dr. Oz vs John Fetterman
The election day is upon us and a number of key Senate races will decide the power of President Biden for the rest of his term, especially Pennsylvania.
It seemed for a long time that Democrat Senate candidate John Fetterman was a shoe-in to be the next senator from Pennsylvania. Very popular in the state due to his work as a mayor and then lieutenant governor, his accomplishments combined with his laid-back demeanor has proved very popular. He is facing off against TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, who Fetterman criticised for being out of touch with and having little to no links with the state due to him living in New Jersey. Oz is living in a property of his in-laws to qualify to run in Pennsylvania.
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However, in recent weeks the race has narrowed almost to a dead heat. Fetterman suffered a stroke before the Democrat primary vote which has made it more difficult for him to communicate. This has been pounced upon by the Oz camp who says he is unfit for office. Gisele Fetterman, the candidate’s wife, called on NBC to apologise for the “ableist” reporting during a televised debate between the two.
Oz was trailing by more than 10 points in a poll published in August but has surged back into contention. Recent polling suggests Fetterman has a 0.4 percentage point lead on Oz though the gap has been continously shrinking since September.
Surely this will be one of the closest races in these elections.
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Who is John Fetterman?
John Fetterman has been a long-time Democrat politician having been mayor of Braddock in Allegheny County from 2006 to 2019. Since then he became the state’s lieutenant governor. He won the Democrat primary on a progressive ticket; he supports the federal legalisation of marajuana as well as believing healthcare to be a right of Americans.
Fetterman would also tower over his fellow senators would he win on Tuesday, he is 6ft 9in tall. In a change to the formality of Congress Fetterman usually attends rallies and speeches in jeans and a jumper. It is said that he owns one suit that he uses when attending the Pennsylvania Senate due to its dress code.
Who is Dr. Mehmet Oz?
Dr. Oz rose to fame with an eponymous daytime television show with ran for 13 seasons, ending after he announced his Senate run. He is the first Muslim Senate candidate for either party in the history of US elections; he is Turkish-American. During his time as a TV doctor, Oz was criticised for pushing pseudo-scientific treatments on to patients.
He was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition by President Donald Trump in 2018 and has won the endorsement of the former President while running for the Senate.