Pennsylvania Senate primary: Fetterman wins Democratic nomination after stroke [Video]

• Progressive Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has bested moderate Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary.
• The results come days after Fetterman suffered a stroke and was hospitalized over the weekend.
• The victory vaults Fetterman into a closely-watched November midterm election.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has won the Democratic Senate primary for Pennsylvania on Tuesday, just days after his announcement that he had suffered a stroke, according to the Associated Press.

The progressive candidate, known for his unconventional style, bested moderate Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. He had been consistently leading the polls by double digits in a deeply purple swing state currently represented by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

The lieutenant governor has endorsed numerous progressive positions, such as raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, and eliminating the filibuster. He has also pledged to “always be that 51st vote” on Democratic measures, to act as a foil to centrist Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). Several Democratic primary battles across the nation has been between progressives and moderates.

The upcoming election has been one of the most closely watched as Democrats vie for an opportunity to flip a seat in the evenly-divided Senate.

Fetterman served as the mayor of the Pittsburgh suburb of Braddock from 2006 to 2019 and replaced incumbent Lt. Gov. Mike Stack in 2018.

He previously ran for the Senate seat in 2016, but finished third in the Democratic primary. For this year’s race, a sizable fundraising put him in an advantage from the beginning.

The lieutenant governor suffered a stroke and was hospitalized over the weekend, but he assured everyone that he “didn’t suffer any cognitive damage” and would fully recover. On Tuesday, doctors implanted a pacemaker with a defibrillator in his heart.

According to his campaign, the short procedure “will help protect his heart and address the underlying cause of his stroke, atrial fibrillation (A-fib), by regulating his heart rate and rhythm.”

Fetterman thanked everyone for their support.

Source: Axios