NEWTOWN, Pa.—About 90 minutes after his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, told supporters that victory was still possible, Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate, John Fetterman, had widened his lead, prompting several media outlets to call the race for Fetterman.
Then Fetterman proclaimed victory in a tweet just before 1 a.m. Nov. 9: “It’s official. I will be the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.”
By that time, Oz’s election-night “watch party” had dispersed from the Newtown Athletic Club. Around 11:30 p.m., Oz told a crowd of 350 guests, “When all of the ballots are counted, we believe we will win this race.” Oz stayed on stage for only about two minutes with his family as he also thanked supporters.
As of 2 a.m. ET on Nov. 9, it was unknown how Oz’s campaign would respond to Fetterman’s declaration of victory; Oz last posted to Twitter just before 6 p.m. on Nov. 8. The Epoch Times has sought comment from Oz’s campaign.
Fetterman had a 2.74 percent lead over Oz. Fetterman had secured about 2.5 million votes, 136,698 more than Oz, as of about 3 a.m. ET on Nov. 9, according to Pennsylvania election reports.
In a victory speech before a cheering crowd in Pittsburgh, Fetterman repeated his campaign slogan: “Every county, every vote.” Then he said: “That’s exactly what happened. We jammed them up. We held the line. I never expected that we were going to turn these red counties blue, but we did what we needed.” Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, appeared animated and delivered his victory speech smoothly.
Behind the scenes, a number of vote-counting issues could threaten to tie up the final, official results of the election.
Final, unofficial vote tallies are not due until Nov. 15, and final certified results are to be filed by Nov. 28, Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth, Leigh Chapman, told reporters on Election Night.
Even without the last-minute drama over the voting procedures, the Oz-Fetterman race had been one of the most-watched contests this election season.
For starters, it featured two unconventional candidates: Oz, a TV celebrity and heart surgeon, versus the current Pennsylvania lieutenant governor, Fetterman, who suffered a major stroke that has hampered his ability to communicate since May.
The two men couldn’t have been more divergent in their policies and personal styles.
Oz painted himself as a brainy yet compassionate conservative, a son of immigrants who realized the American Dream through education and hard work. But because he has lived mostly in New Jersey, Oz has been criticized as a Johnny-come-lately to the Pennsylvania political landscape.
Fetterman, whose campaign wardrobe famously included shorts and hoodies, came across as an unvarnished, dyed-in-the-wool Pennsylvanian. But he has drawn derision for living off a trust fund and missing too much work in his public positions, first as mayor of Braddock, and later, as lieutenant governor.
Both candidates enjoyed support from political heavyweights in their respective parties: Former President Donald Trump endorsed Oz, while former President Barack Obama stumped for Fetterman.
In that “reconciliation” process, election workers cross-reference absentee ballots with poll books that in-person voters sign.
But reconciliation interrupts vote counting, raising concerns that it conflicts with a new state law known as Act 88 that conditionalizes grants to state elections on counting continuing “without interruption.”
Earlier this year, commissioners voted to ax reconciliation—a move that led to a court battle. On Nov. 7, Common Pleas Judge Anne Marie Coyle denied a request for an injunction against rolling back reconciliation.
But city commissioners, in their decision, cited the judge’s ruling as a reason for the decision.
“And while we technically won the court case in Common Pleas Court, the opinion that was written was written in a way that we have no other choice but to go forward and reinstate reconciliation,” Commissioner Lisa Deeley, a Democrat, said.
