Democratic nominee and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has defeated Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race, NBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg report.
As of 1 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Fetterman had won 49.4 percent of the vote with 83 percent of precincts reporting, while Oz had secured 48.2 percent.
The seat vacated by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R) represented a strong pick-up opportunity for either party, but Democrats were especially hopeful they might flip it in order to bolster or at the very least maintain their razor-thin Senate majority. Fetterman maintained a lead in the polls throughout the race, though Oz did manage to gain from behind in the final weeks, perhaps buoyed in part by Republican momentum nationwide.
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Fetterman spent most of the closely watched contest accusing longtime New Jersey resident Oz of "carpetbagging," or moving to Pennsylvania solely to run for office, while Oz sowed doubt regarding Fetterman's fitness for office (the Democrat suffered a stroke in May and subsequently struggled with auditory processing). To illustrate his point, Oz repeatedly pointed to his opponent's refusal to debate, though Fetterman eventually relented and agreed to an on-stage match-up that was held at the end of October.
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