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The highly anticipated debate in the Pennsylvania’s Senate race was held Tuesday night — the only time this fall that Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman shared a stage, as they each vie for a seat that could tip the balance in Congress’ evenly divided top chamber.
Considerable attention in the debate, hosted by Nexstar, was on Fetterman’s health: The lieutenant governor suffered a stroke in May that sidelined him for three months and left him with lingering symptoms, including halting speech.
Fetterman had monitors on stage to transcribe words in real time and acknowledged early on in the hour that he would be occasionally stumbling over and confusing his words. He has said he is working with a speech therapist and has some auditory processing issues with spoken language, which neurologists say is not uncommon for stroke survivors.
Addressing his fitness for office, Fetterman pointed to a letter from his physician that he was ready for “full duty” and described his stroke as a challenge like many other people had faced and overcome.
“My campaign is all about fighting for anyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down, that had to get back up again. I’m also fighting for any forgotten communities all across Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down,” he said in his closing message.
Oz, a doctor and popular TV host, in his closing message pitched voters that he would bring “balance” to Washington.
“I’m a surgeon, not a politician. We take big problems, we focus on them and we fix them, and we do it by uniting — by coming together — not dividing. And by doing that, we get ahead,” he said.
During the debate, he and Fetterman sparred on abortion access, public safety and crime, inflation and the minimum wage and more — and which of the two was running the more sincere campaign.
Members of the media watch Republican candidate Mehmet Oz on a TV monitor as he faces off against Democratic Senate candidate for Pennsylvania John Fetterman during the candidates’ only debate in Harrisburg, Penn., Oct. 25, 2022.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA via Shutterstock
Fetterman accused Oz of frequently lying, both on the debate stage and in his TV career, calling it the “Oz rule.” Oz later pushed back that one of Fetterman’s ads against him had been pulled for being “dishonest” while his campaign had no such penalty.
Oz said that Fetterman’s attacks on him, on his views on abortion restrictions and whether or not to cut Social Security and Medicare (which Oz said he opposed), amounted to “fear-mongering.”
Fetterman cast Oz as out-of-town and out-of-touch, repeatedly invoking Oz’s wealth and many properties and lack of roots in the state. “I believe it’s about serving Pennsylvania, not about using Pennsylvania for their own interests,” he said.
Oz returned to a key theme as well: that Fetterman was a “radical” while he was seeking solutions that served the whole state. He pressed Fetterman on Fetterman’s record on the Pennsylvania parole board, calling Fetterman weak on crime and public safety. And he said that Fetterman would do wrong by the energy industry.
A handout photo made available by abc27 shows Democratic candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (L) and Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) shaking hands prior to the Nexstar Pennsylvania Senate Debate at WHTM abc27 in Harrisburg, Penn., Oct. 25, 2022.
Greg Nash, Handout via EPA via Shutterstock
Fetterman insisted he supported fracking — contradicting what he said in 2018, the moderators noted — and that as a mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, he had successfully worked to curb gun violence and had a track record of addressing public safety issues.
On abortion, Fetterman said he wanted to revive and codify into law the nationwide abortion guidelines under Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court struck down this summer.
Oz said he wouldn’t support a federal abortion ban — which some other Republicans have called for. He has described himself as “pro-life” and supports restrictions abortion with a few exceptions, saying that by contrast Fetterman supported tax-subsidized abortion even into the final trimester.
On abortion and other issues, he described Fetterman as extreme.
Members of the media prepare to cover the Pennsylvania Senate debate between Democratic candidate John Fetterman and Republican candidate Mehmet Oz in Harrisburg, Penn., Oct. 25, 2022.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA via Shutterstock
Fetterman said he backed Roe’s guidelines, no more and no less, and should be the candidate chosen by voters who support a woman’s personal choice while Oz would work to restrict abortion.
Oz rebutted Fetterman, who sought to label him as actually more right-wing on abortion than he was saying on stage: Fetterman cut into Oz’s time to link Oz to gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano. Oz said Fetterman was trying to “scare” women.
Elsewhere, Fetterman said he supported a law to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, more than double its current rate. Oz said he wanted the minimum wage even higher than that but driven by market forces, not a law, via a plan to “unleash” the state’s energy companies.
Polls have narrowed considerably, with FiveThirtyEight’s average now showing Fetterman ahead by less than 3 points, down from nearly 11 points six weeks ago.
