Democratic Lt. Governor John Fetterman has celebrated his victory in the closely watched Pennsylvania Senate against Republican and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman addressed supporters after he defeated Oz in a closely contested race where the Republican had been closing the gap in a slew of polls heading into November 8.
"I'm so humbled. Thank you so much, really," Fetterman told a crowd of his supporters.
"We launched this campaign almost two years ago, and we had our slogan, it's on every one of those signs right now—every county, every vote. Every county, every vote," the Democrat went on.
"And that's exactly what happened. We jammed them up. We held the line," Fetterman said.
With 91 percent of votes counted as of early Wednesday morning, Fetterman leads Oz with 50 percent of ballots cast to the Republican's 47.6 percent, while Libertarian candidate Erik Gerhardt had garnered 1.4 percent support.
The Associated Press (AP) has called the race in favor of Fetterman but it will take time for the official results to be announced.
Fetterman will succeed retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey and made reference to his campaign's efforts to appeal across party lines in his speech on Tuesday night.
"I never expected that we were gonna turn these red counties blue," Fetterman said. "But we did what we needed to do, and we had that conversation across every one of those counties."
"And tonight, that's why I'll be the next U.S. senator from Pennsylvania," he said.
The graphic below shows results from the 2022 Senate races as of Wednesday 3:40 a.m. ET.
Fetterman triumphed in a highly contentious race that saw the Oz campaign raise questions about the Democrat's health and ability to serve following a stroke he suffered in May.
The Fetterman campaign took aim at Oz, in particular focusing on his longtime residence in New Jersey. Oz had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who campaigned for him in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
In what was likely a sign of the importance of the race, President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama were also in Pennsylvania on Saturday rallying in support of Fetterman.
The Democrat's victory has given the party renewed hope of retaining control of the Senate, which some pollsters considered a toss-up. The Pennsylvania race is a key pickup for Democrats and could prove crucial in determining which party controls the chamber.
Newsweek has contacted the Fetterman and Oz campaigns for comment.
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Update 11/09/22, 3.30 a.m. E.T: This article was updated to include more information.
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About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
