2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania
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The 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[1] Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman won his first term in office, defeating Republican surgeon Mehmet Oz. Fetterman succeeded incumbent Republican senator Pat Toomey, who did not seek re-election after two terms. This was the only U.S. Senate seat to flip parties in the 2022 midterms.
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Fetterman: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Oz: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 40–50% 50% No data | |||||||||||||||||
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In the May 17 primary, Fetterman won the Democratic nomination with 59% of the vote.[2] Oz finished with a 0.1% margin ahead of businessman David McCormick in the Republican primary, triggering an automatic recount. McCormick conceded the nomination on June 3,[3] making Oz the first Muslim candidate to be nominated by either major party for U.S. Senate.[4]
The general election was among the most competitive of the 2022 midterms and characterized as highly contentious. Fetterman framed Oz as an elitist carpetbagger with a radical anti-abortion stance in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, while Oz framed Fetterman as a socialist insufficiently committed to fighting crime. Fetterman's health was also a major issue due to him suffering a stroke days before his primary victory.[5] Although Fetterman led most pre-election polls, concerns towards his health and a scrutinized debate performance helped Oz take a narrow lead before the election.[6][7][8]
Despite Oz's lead in final polls, Fetterman won by a 5% margin, helping provide Senate Democrats a net gain of one seat and their first outright majority since 2015. With Fetterman's victory, elected Democrats held both US Senate seats from Pennsylvania for the first time since 1947.[lower-alpha 1]