PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Lt. Gov. John Fetterman won a decisive victory Tuesday in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, just days after suffering a minor stroke.
Shortly after the race was called, Fetterman, 52, led his closest challenger, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb (PA-17), by more than a two-to-one vote margin.
Fetterman, a York-county-born Harvard graduate, made his name when he was the Carhartt-wearing mayor of Braddock, a former steel town of about 2,000 people outside of Pittsburgh. He enjoyed a sizable lead over his opponents in both polling and campaign cash through the race.
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He’ll face the winner of the still-too-close-to-call GOP primary in November in a race with national implications. Democrats hope to hang on to control of the Senate in part by flipping the seat of outgoing Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.
Fetterman’s victory came without support from the state Democratic party, with many of the party’s prominent elected officials endorsing Lamb or North Philly-based State. Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. Alex Khalil, a member of the Jenkintown Borough Council, was considered a long shot throughout the race. Fetterman was elected lieutenant governor in 2018 after losing a 2016 bid for his party’s U.S. Senate nomination. His time alongside Gov. Tom Wolf was marked by advocacy for legal recreational marijuana and progressive reforms to the state board of pardons. As a senator he pledges to support universal health care, a new tax on billionaires and a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
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Fetterman faced scrutiny in the primary for a 2013 incident in which, as Braddock mayor, he chased a Black jogger and detained him with a shotgun. In an April debate, Fetterman explained it as a “split-second decision” he made after hearing what he says was a gunshot near his home. Police found no weapons on the jogger. Fetterman won mayoral reelection twice after the incident.
Fetterman will likely continue to face questions on the issue in the general election race, in addition to attacks from the GOP candidate for Fetterman’s support for the progressive policies made mainstream by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
After Fetterman's victory Tuesday night, President Joe Biden tweeted out his support on his personal account.
Late Tuesday, Lamb released a statement to congratulate Fetterman on the win.
"Today, voters made it clear that John Fetterman is their choice to carry that effort forward. I respect their decision and congratulate the Lieutenant Governor on his victory. I hope that John has a speedy recovery from his stroke and from today’s surgery, and that he can return to the campaign trail soon."
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The results for both parties, as calculated by the Associated Press, are below.
