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John Fetterman’s rise from small-town mayor to Pennsylvania senator
John Fetterman’s rise from small-town mayor to Pennsylvania senatorThe unconventional senator-elect who ‘bet on the people of Pennsylvania’ and won will now head to Washington and sit in a deeply divided Congress
US midterm election results 2022: live
Arguably it was Donald Trump who launched the political career of John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who clinched the state’s US Senate seat in Tuesday’s election.In the days after the 2020 presidential vote, the former US president infamously claimed there had been widespread election fraud, including in Pennsylvania, where Fetterman was lieutenant governor.Trump branded midterms’ ‘biggest loser’ as DeSantis win fuels 2024 talkRead moreFetterman disagreed.“The president is no different than any other random internet troll,” the Democrat said in an interview with MSNBC, in a comment that delighted Trump opponents in the US and beyond.When Trump later said he would sue Pennsylvania over alleged, but nonexistent, voter fraud, Fetterman’s response was equally succinct.“The president can sue a ham sandwich,” he said.As Americans remained glued to their screens awaiting the results of the 2020 election – Biden was only declared the winner four days after election day, after states including Pennsylvania painstakingly counted their votes – Fetterman’s televised lampooning of Trump’s increasingly unhinged claims brought him a national profile, which he would channel into his Senate campaign.It also probably didn’t hurt that Fetterman is instantly recognisable. At 6ft 8in tall, and almost permanently dressed in a hoodie and shorts, the tattooed, bald, goateed Fetterman is easy to pick out of a crowd.His appearance, and his background as the long-serving mayor of the small, struggling Pennsylvania steel town of Braddock, lends itself to his public persona, too: a blue-collar Democrat, someone who is tough, no nonsense, who will stick up for the regular guy.01:19Fetterman brought that aura and popularity to his Senate run, and in the Democratic primary the 53-year-old led the polls by 20% almost throughout the race, as his progressive stance on increasing the minimum wage, abortion rights, healthcare and marijuana gained widespread support.Everything, it seemed, was going perfectly, until 13 May, when Fetterman had a stroke. Doctors removed a blood clot from his brain and implanted a pacemaker, and Fetterman won the Democratic primary, in absentia, four days later, but it has been a long recovery.Fetterman said he “almost died” from the stroke and he was kept away from the campaign trail for months before he resumed limited public appearances in August, but he has continued to have difficulty speaking and processing others’ speech.In a debate with Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate, in October, two 70in screens were installed in front of the candidates, which carried transcriptions of the moderator’s questions and Oz’s responses.“I sometimes will hear things in a way that’s not perfectly clear. So I use captioning so I’m able to see what you’re saying,” Fetterman said during an interview with NBC in October. “And every now and then I’ll miss a word. Or sometimes I’ll maybe mush two words together. But as long as I have captioning, I’m able to understand exactly what’s being asked.”Fetterman’s appearance in the debate, in which he stumbled over his phrasing and struggled to get out rebuttals to Oz’s own points, had Democrats worried, and the polls tightened in the days before the vote.“Let’s also talk about the elephant in the room,” Fetterman said during the debate, as he tried to get ahead of any criticism.“I had a stroke. He never let me forget that.”01:28Fetterman was referring to Oz, whose campaign launched unsavory attacks, with one Oz aide, Rachel Tripp, claiming Fetterman might not have had a stroke if he “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life”.For his part, during the campaign Fetterman and his team channeled the straight-talking, playful personality he showcased in the wake of the 2020 election, skewering Oz over everything from the Republican’s tone-deaf complaints over the price of “crudités” to Oz’s lack of connection to Pennsylvania. (Oz lived in New Jersey for decades before apparently moving to Pennsylvania, into a house owned by his wife’s family, in October 2020. He announced his candidacy for the Senate two months later.)Fetterman’s image as an earthy, working-class hero enabled him to position himself as the opposite to Oz’s elitist, rich man vibe, and to appeal to a broad range of Pennsylvanians, although the truth isn’t quite that simple.The Democrat has an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a master’s from Harvard, and has acknowledged growing up in a “cushy” environment made possible by his father’s successful insurance business. Fetterman has said he received financial assistance from his parents for almost all of his 13 years as Braddock’s mayor – the job only paid $150 a month – until he became Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor in 2019.There seems little disingenuous about Fetterman, however, who chose not to move into the lieutenant governor’s mansion when elected, instead remaining in Braddock, where he lives, as he has often told crowds at rallies, opposite a steel mill. His passion for the town is visible on his right forearm, where nine tattoos mark the dates that people were killed “through violence” in Braddock while he was mayor.Having spent the bulk of his political career in charge of a town of 2,000 people, Fetterman will now represent Pennsylvania’s population of nearly 13 million. As he spoke to the crowd in the early hours of Wednesday, it seemed like a challenge he was ready for.“This campaign has always been about fighting for anyone that ever got knocked down that got back up. This race is for the future of every community across Pennsylvania, for every small town or person that ever felt left behind,” Fetterman said.“We bet on the people of Pennsylvania and you never let us down.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022PennsylvaniaDemocratsUS SenateUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More - in US Politics
Trump quiet as Democrats pull off surprise boost: Politics Weekly America midterms special
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Republicans will be wondering how polling got it so wrong. As John Fetterman wins that all-important Pennsylvania seat and Democrats keeps more seats in the house than expected, it is clear the former President doesn’t have the pull analysts once thought. Donald Trump faces another problem, a party rival in Florida king, Ron DeSantis.
Jonathan Freedland is joined by Lauren Gambino, Tara Setmayer and David Shor to discuss the ramifications for Washington and beyond of what the votes are telling usHow to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know
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The key candidates who threaten democracy in the 2022 US midterms
ExplainerThe key candidates who threaten democracy in the 2022 US midterms In several states, Republican candidates who dispute the 2020 election results are running for positions that would give them control over elections
US midterm election results 2022: live
US midterm elections 2022 – latest live news updates
When will we know who won US midterm races — and what to expect
Several races on the ballot this fall will have profound consequences for American democracy. In some states, Republican candidates who doubt the 2020 election results, or in some cases actively worked to overturn them, are running for positions in which they would have tremendous influence over how votes are cast and counted. If these candidates win, there is deep concern they could use their offices to spread baseless information about election fraud and try to prevent the rightful winners of elections from being seated.In total, 291 Republicans – a majority of the party’s nominees this cycle – have questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, according to a Washington Post tally.What are the US midterm elections and who’s running?Read moreUp and down the ballot, election deniers are running for offices that could play a critical role in future elections.They’re running to be governors, who play a role in enacting election rules. They’re running to be secretaries of state, who oversee voting and ballot counting. They’re running to be attorneys general, who are responsible for investigating allegations of fraud handling litigation in high-stakes election suits. They’re running to be members of Congress, who vote to certify the presidential vote every four years. They’re running to be state lawmakers, who can pass voting laws, launch investigations, and, according to some fringe legal theories, try to block the certification of presidential electors.Here’s a look at some of the key candidates who pose a threat to US democracy:Doug MastrianoUpdate: Mastriano lost to the Democrat Josh Shapiro on election night.Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He was the “point person” for the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania as lawyers put together fake slates of electors for Trump, according to emails obtained by the New York Times. He also organized an event with Rudy Giuliani after the 2020 election in which speakers spread misinformation about the election. He hired buses and offered rides to the US Capitol on January 6 and was there himself. He has supported the idea of decertifying the presidential race in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, which is not possible.If elected, Mastriano would wield considerable power over elections in Pennsylvania. The state is one of a handful where the secretary of state, the chief election official, is appointed by the governor. Mastriano has said he has already picked someone, but hasn’t said who. The Philadelphia Inquirer has speculated he could pick Toni Shuppe, an activist who has spread voting misinformation and false theories linked to the QAnon movement. Mastriano has also said he would decertify election equipment and cause all voters in the state to reregister to vote.Mark FinchemFinchem, a member of Arizona’s state house of representatives, is the Republican nominee for Arizona secretary of state, which would make him Arizona’s chief election official. Finchem, a member of the Oath Keepers, was at the US Capitol on January 6. He introduced a resolution this year to decertify the election. In 2020, he was one of several lawmakers who signed a joint resolution asking Congress to reject electors for Joe Biden.He has said, falsely, that Joe Biden did not win the election in Arizona in 2020. “It strains credibility,” he told Time magazine in September of Biden’s victory. “Isn’t it interesting that I can’t find anyone who will admit that they voted for Joe Biden?” When a reporter asked him whether it was possible that people he didn’t know voted for Biden, Finchem said: “In a fantasy world, anything’s possible.”Kari LakeA former news anchor with no prior political experience, Lake made doubting the 2020 election a centerpiece of her successful bid to win Arizona’s GOP nomination for governor.If she wins the governor’s race, Lake would be one of the statewide officials charged with certifying the results of the presidential election. She has called the 2020 election “corrupt and stolen” and said she would not have certified it. She joined an unsuccessful lawsuit to require ballots in Arizona to be counted by hand, which experts say is unreliable and costly. She has backed ending mail-in voting, which is widely used in Arizona.Abraham “Abe” HamadehThe Republican candidate for Arizona attorney general, Hamadeh has never held elected office and is making his first attempt to win a seat. Hamadeh, a former prosecutor, said he would not have signed off on Arizona’s election results, which showed Joe Biden won. Hamadeh, who is endorsed by Trump, has called the 2020 election “rotten, rigged and corrupt” and said if he won, he would “prosecute the election fraud of 2020 and secure the 2024 election so when Donald Trump runs and wins again in 2024, everyone will know it’s legitimate”.Blake MastersMasters, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Arizona, is endorsed by Trump and has received major financial backing from his former boss the tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Early in his race, Masters posted a video saying: “I think Trump won in 2020.” He also said he would have objected to certifying the 2020 election results during the primary, as other Republican senators did on January 6.Since winning his primary, he has sought to soften his views on the topic. He removed language from his campaign website that claimed the election was stolen. During a debate, he pointed to media coverage and big tech going against Trump instead of outright saying the election was stolen. But he has strongly stated the election was stolen to certain audiences, telling Fox News that he still believes Trump won. And Trump himself called Masters after a debate against the Democratic senator Mark Kelly, with Trump telling Masters he had “got to go stronger” on election fraud claims to win in November.His rhetoric on elections has remained heated during the general election. When Trump came to Arizona in October, Hamadeh told the crowd he would “lock up some people and put handcuffs on them”, but then, during a debate with his opponent, Democrat Kris Mayes, he would not say exactly who should be locked up or for what.Andy BiggsUpdate: Biggs won re-election against the Democrat Javier Ramos, confirmed on Wednesday.Arizona’s Biggs was one of 147 Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the election results, but his involvement in January 6 went further than that. Ali Alexander, who helped organize the “Stop the Steal” protests, has said that Biggs helped him formulate strategy, according to Rolling Stone. Biggs is also said to have requested a pardon for his actions around January 6.Anthony KernAs an Arizona state representative in 2020, Kern was present at the Capitol on 6 January. He also briefly participated in a widely panned review of the 2020 election in Maricopa county that provided fodder for more baseless claims but ultimately affirmed Biden’s victory. He also signed on to a letter requesting that Pence delay the count of the electoral vote. Trump endorsed Kern in November 2021, saying Kern “supported decertifying” the election results.Jim MarchantMarchant is the Republican nominee for secretary of state in Nevada. He is linked to the QAnon movement; he has said he was pushed to run for the position by Trump allies and a prominent QAnon influencer. He leads a coalition of far-right candidates seeking to be secretary of state in key battleground states.He lost a 2020 congressional race by more than 16,000 votes, but nonetheless challenged the result by alleging fraud. He has since traveled around the state pressuring counties to get rid of electronic voting equipment and instead only hand-count paper ballots. Such a switch would be unreliable – humans are worse at counting large quantities of things than machines – as well as costly, and take a long time, experts say. He has falsely said voting equipment is “easy” to hack and said that Nevadans’ votes haven’t counted for decades. He has claimed there is a global “cabal” that runs elections in Nevada and elsewhere.Kristina KaramoUpdate: Karamo lost to the Democrat Jocelyn Benson, confirmed on Wednesday.Karamo, the GOP nominee for secretary of state in Michigan, became nationally known after the 2020 election when she claimed she witnessed wrongdoing as ballots were being counted in Detroit. The allegations were debunked, but Karamo, a community college professor who has never held elected office, went on to rise in conservative circles. She appeared on Fox News and was a witness at a high-profile legislative hearing about election irregularities. She joined an unsuccessful lawsuit to try to overturn the election. She has claimed “egregious crimes” were committed and said on a podcast: “It’s time for us decent people in the Republican party … to fight back. We cannot have our election stolen,” according to Bridge Michigan.Abortion on the ballot: here are the US states voting on a woman’s right to chooseRead moreShe has also come under fire for comments on her podcast comparing abortion to human sacrifice and opposing the teaching of evolution in schools, according to Bridge Michigan.Matthew DePernoDePerno lost to the Democrat Dana Nessel, confirmed on Wednesday morning.DePerno, a lawyer who has never held elected office, became a celebrity in conservative circles for his work after the 2020 election. He helped lead a lawsuit in Antrim county, in northern Michigan, where a clerk made an error and posted incorrect information on election night. He claimed election equipment was corrupted, and a judge authorized an investigation of the county’s election equipment that became the basis of an inaccurate report that Trump allies used to spread misinformation about the election. A Republican-led inquiry into allegations of fraud found his actions to be “misleading and irresponsible”. DePerno has said he would arrest Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat serving as Michigan’s top election official, as well as Dana Nessel, his Democratic opponent in the attorney general’s race.DePerno also faces potential criminal charges for unauthorized access to voting equipment. A special prosecutor is investigating the matter.Steve CarraCarra won his re-election bid against Roger Williams, confirmed on Wednesday.Carra, who is running for re-election to the Michigan house of representatives, signed a letter in 2020 asking Mike Pence to delay Congress’s counting of electors. He also sponsored legislation to require an audit of the 2020 race, even after the 2020 results were already confirmed there.Kim CrockettCrockett lost to the Democrat Steve Simon, confirmed on Wednesday.Joe Biden won Minnesota by more than 230,000 votes in 2020. But Kim Crockett, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, has nonetheless called that victory into question.Crockett has described the 2020 election as “rigged” and agreed with an interviewer who suggested it was “illegitimate”. She has said, “I don’t think we’ll ever know precisely what happened” when it comes to the 2020 race. That is false – there’s no evidence of fraud or other malfeasance in Minnesota, which had the highest voter turnout in the US in 2020.Crockett has harshly criticized Steve Simon, the incumbent secretary of state, for reaching a court settlement that required the state to count late-arriving ballots (an appeals court blocked the agreement). If elected, Crockett has pledged to cut the early voting period in the state (Minnesota has one of the longest early voting periods in the US), get rid of same-day voter registration, and require photo identification to vote.Audrey TrujilloTrujillo lost to Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver on election night.Trujillo, the Republican nominee for secretary of state in New Mexico, has called the 2020 election a “coup”.“Until we get a handle on the voter fraud in NM, all elections are going to continue to be rigged. Why run? Run to lose? Thoughts anyone?” she tweeted last year.She has also appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast, where she falsely suggested Biden could not have won the election because she only saw Trump signs in the state (Biden easily won the state by nearly 100,000 votes). She supported an effort in one county not to certify the primary election because of unproven fraud allegations.She has also pushed other conspiracy theories related to school shootings and Covid vaccines, according to Media Matters.Tim MichelsMichels lost to the Democrat Tony Evers, confirmed on Wednesday.Michels, the Republican nominee for governor in Wisconsin, said earlier this year that the 2020 election was “maybe” stolen. Donald Trump, who lost Wisconsin by 20,682 votes, only requested a recount in two of the state’s largest counties, both of which affirmed Biden’s victory in the state.After pressure from Trump, Michels said this year he would consider signing legislation to decertify the 2020 election, which is not legally possible.Ken PaxtonPaxton won his re-election bid against the Democrat Rochelle Garza, confirmed on Wednesday.Paxton, seeking his third term as Texas attorney general, was one of Trump’s closest allies in the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 race. He filed a lawsuit at the Texas supreme court seeking to block Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania from certifying their election results.Burt JonesA state senator who is running to be Georgia’s lieutenant governor, Jones served as one of 16 fake electors in Georgia in 2020. He helped amplify Trump’s baseless fraud claims after the 2020 vote and was among a group of state senators who called on Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, to convene a special session to address changes to election law – a suggestion Kemp rejected. If elected lieutenant governor, he would oversee the Georgia senate and have a role in controlling the flow of legislation in the chamber.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsRepublicansPennsylvaniaArizonaNevadaMichiganexplainersReuse this content More - in US Politics
'We bet on the people of Pennsylvania': John Fetterman beats Dr Oz to win key Senate seat – video
John Fetterman has defeated the Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, flipping a Senate seat in the highly competitive swing state of Pennsylvania. ‘We bet on the people of Pennsylvania and they never let us down,’ Fetterman said in his acceptance speech after a hard-fought campaign during which concerns about Fetterman’s health were raised by Oz’s team.
Fetterman, who had a stroke this year, said: ‘Healthcare is a fundamental human right. It saved my life and it should all be there for you.’
The win raises Democratic hopes that the party can retain a slim majority in the SenateFetterman defeats Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race, giving Democrats a boost
US midterm election results 2022: live
Midterm elections 2022: Democrats beating expectations as John Fetterman wins crucial US Senate race – live More - in US Politics
Fetterman defeats Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race, giving Democrats a boost
Fetterman defeats Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race, giving Democrats a boostVictory overturns a Republican-held Senate seat and increases his party’s chances of retaining control of chamber
US midterm election results 2022: live
US midterm elections 2022 – latest live news updates
01:19The Democratic party received a huge boost in Pennsylvania in the early hours of Wednesday morning, when John Fetterman won the state’s US Senate race to increase his party’s chances of retaining control of the chamber.Fetterman was declared the winner over Mehmet Oz, the Republican celebrity doctor, six hours after the polls closed, overturning a Republican-held Senate seat to bolster Democrats’ chances of retaining the chamber.Where’s the red wave? Five key takeaways from the US midtermsRead moreThe Democrat, who suffered a stroke in May which has impacted his ability to speak and process the sound of others’ speech, spent months ahead of Oz in the polls, but the race had tightened in recent weeks after a disappointing performance from Fetterman in a debate.It made for a jubilant atmosphere at Fetterman’s election night event in Pittsburgh, close to the borough of Braddock where Fetterman spent 13 years as mayor. Fetterman took the stage at 1.15am to declare victory, and said he had fought “for every person that works hard but never got ahead”.“This campaign has always been about fighting for anyone that ever got knocked down that got back up. This race is for the future of every community across Pennsylvania, for every small town or person that ever felt left behind,” Fetterman said.“I’m proud of what we ran on,” he said. “Protecting a woman’s right to choose, raising the minimum wage.”There was a raucous reception as Fetterman appeared on stage, wearing his customary hoodie with a pair of baggy blue jeans, and even louder applause as he thanked his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, who has served as a convincing campaign surrogate while Fetterman recovered from the stroke.“Six months ago she saved my life,” Fetterman said. “She recognized what was happening.”He referenced the stroke again as he spoke about what he hoped to achieve in the Senate.“Healthcare is a fundamental human right. It saved my life and it should all be there for you whenever you might need it,” Fetterman said.Fetterman has presented himself as a blue collar Democrat, and has struck an unusual political figure throughout the campaign. At 6ft 8in tall, Fetterman is usually seen wearing hoodies at campaign events, and has tattoos on his forearms, including nine on his right arm which mark the dates that people were killed “through violence” in Braddock while he was mayor.“I think he’s a grass roots guy, he grew up in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Ron Caserta, a Fetterman voter. “And he’s been all through the state, he’s been to every county, so he’s in touch with the common citizen, and I think that’s his appeal.”Oz was dogged by questions about his actual connection to the state during the campaign. Oz lived in New Jersey for decades before he moved to Pennsylvania in October 2020, into a home owned by his wife’s family. He announced his bid to be the state’s US senator just months later.Following his stroke, during which Fetterman said he “almost died”, the Oz campaign had launched unsavory attacks with one Oz aide, Rachel Tripp, claiming Fetterman might not have had a stroke if he “had ever eaten a vegetable in his life”.The attacks ultimately proved futile, however, and Fetterman will replace the retiring Republican Pat Toomey in the Senate next year – to the delight of Democratic Pennsylvanians.Bill Beardsley, a retired union official with the Pittsburgh Steam Fitters union had been confident of a Fetterman win all along.“What the polling doesn’t reflect are the newly registered voters, most of which are women pissed off over Roe v Wade,” Beardsley said.“The polls narrowing – it’s bound to happen. Most elections they do narrow, it’s not surprising in the least. Plus Oz’s campaign ran a brutal amounts of false ads, all of them were negative, so it was bound to happen.”As for Oz, Beardsley was decidedly not a fan.“He’s a stone goof. He’s a fraud, he’s a charlatan, he’s a snake oil salesman,” he said.“And he doesn’t even live in Pennsylvania.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022PennsylvaniaUS politicsDemocratsUS CongressUS SenatenewsReuse this content More - in US Politics
Voters hold political fate of US in their hands as they cast midterm ballots
Voters hold political fate of US in their hands as they cast midterm ballotsVoters across the US described a range of urgent concerns, from reproductive rights to anxieties about the economy and crime
US midterm election results 2022: live
Millions of Americans took to the polls on Tuesday for the 2022 midterm elections, a series of bitter contests that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress for the next two years, as well as key state and local offices. The outcome could also help determine whether 2020 election deniers gain more political power, and potentially set the stage for still more discord among an increasingly fractious electorate.Voters across the US described a range of urgent concerns, whether over the ongoing assault on reproductive rights or anxieties about the economy and crime. Many also described a heightened level of worry about possible challenges to accurate election results and the disenfranchisement of voters, including protracted litigation that could sow dangerous distrust in the US’s electoral system.Americans in battleground states on why they’re voting: ‘I fear I won’t have rights’Read moreIn Columbus, Ohio, Ashley Sica said her vote for Democrat Tim Ryan in the US Senate race was decided after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade.“I voted based off of my values, and maybe not necessarily what I would do, but just thinking globally of choices that other people should be able to have. I don’t think that government officials should be in charge of what people do with their own bodies,” said Sica, whose polling place was Ohio’s largest Greek Orthodox church.Sica, a nurse, said the Roe decision prompted many women to vote in the midterms who otherwise probably would not. She also described fear over Republicans’ opposition to tighter gun control laws despite a series of deadly school shootings.“My children’s daycare is just a mile from here. There was an issue with someone shooting a gun around their daycare. So that’s another thing that kind of brought me out to vote for stricter laws in regards to guns,” Sica said. “Having kids that are of school age now really brings that kind of thing into focus, thinking about their safety and the safety of others.”Jeffrey Weisman, another Columbus resident, voted for the bestselling author and Republican candidate for the US Senate JD Vance, albeit without much enthusiasm. “I vote Republican pretty much all the way and that is my main reason why,” Weisman said.Vance has a slight polling lead over Ryan in a state that has increasingly given sizable majorities to Republicans. The neck-and-neck Ohio contest somewhat reflects the strength of Ryan’s campaign for a seat that could determine whether his party holds control of the Senate.The close race also reflects voters’ doubts about Vance’s sincerity; he dramatically moved away from calling Trump a “fraud” and “moral disaster” to becoming a dogged supporter to land Trump’s endorsement in the GOP primaries.Weisman, the owner of a retail jewelry store, said it didn’t matter that Vance was backed by Trump. “I like the Republicans’ stuff when it comes more to the economy. I’m a business owner and I feel that things are not going in the right direction with the Democrats in charge,” he said. “I’m hoping that maybe the Republicans in charge will get things going a little better economy-wise.”Weisman, who twice voted for Trump in presidential races, said he’d rather the former commander-in-chief stay out of the 2024 contest. “It’s a tough one. I like his politics. His mouth scares a lot of people. So, I personally do not think he can win because of the mouth, the ‘controversialness’ of him, and so I think that would be a tough road for him,” he said.Voters in Pennsylvania – a state which is poised to have one of the closest US Senate elections – were choosing between John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, and Mehmet Oz, a Republican celebrity doctor.While Fetterman held a commanding lead in the polls for months, Oz has since closed the gap. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May, and still has difficulties with speaking and comprehending other speakers, as revealed in a debate with Oz two weeks ago. Fetterman and his team have insisted he is able to work and serve as senator; Oz’s campaign has mocked his health.“I liked Fetterman, except for the man had a stroke,” said Steve Schwartz, who just voted for Oz in Beaver county, approximately 30 miles north-west of Pittsburgh. “I don’t even know if he can drive to work yet. You don’t wanna hire him and then he’s going to be on disability for a little bit.” Schwartz, who also voted for the Republican candidates for governor and the US House, said he would have “seriously considered” Fetterman if not for his stroke.Beaver county, named after the Beaver River, which is either named after the Lenape chief King Beaver or the flat-tailed animal, voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. The former president’s margin of victory was smaller here than in other Pennsylvania counties.Mike Moore, a 41-year-old loan closer, said he had cast his vote for Fetterman.“I like the way he is. I’ve met him a couple of times, he seems like a real genuine guy. I kind of don’t like Dr Oz, because he doesn’t live in Pennsylvania – and that’s kind of like: ‘How can he represent me?’” Moore said, referring to Oz’s decades-long residency in a mansion in New Jersey; Oz claims he moved to Pennsylvania in late 2020.For Moore, the most important issue was “bipartisanship”, which appears unlikely given the tone of this election cycle. “This country is so polarized now, it’s a shame,” Moore said. “You know, we got to work together. We got to be Americans.”In Lansing, Michigan, the congresswoman Elissa Slotkin– – who is running in the most expensive House race in the country – said she was bracing herself for attempts to undermine the state’s election results.“This is what happens when a leadership climate is set in our country, trying to undercut democracy when one side loses,” she said on a small patch of tidily cropped grass outside the Eastern high school athletic club after casting her vote.“It’s unclear what my opponent will do if he loses. The good news is, we’ve seen this movie before, in 2020. We were prepared,” Slotkin said.A judge on Monday dismissed an effort by Republicans to throw out votes in Detroit, determining that their claim lacked a “shred of evidence”.Slotkin remarked that inflation was undeniably on everybody’s mind in Michigan, but added that the ballot initiative to protect abortion in Michigan is a “countervailing wind” following the US supreme court’s decision in July to overturn Roe v Wade. “I was at the Michigan State rally last night with campus organizers, and Roe v Wade is really motivating students,” Slotkin said.In nearby Detroit, at a polling site at the Greater Grace temple in the north-west of the city, 35-year-old Xhosoli Nmumhad said she decided to cast a ballot to support a constitutional amendment that would dramatically expand voting rights in Michigan. Nmumhad, 35, has only voted twice before – once in 2008 and then again in 2012, for Barack Obama – but said of her decision: “I believe everyone should be able to vote.”Ruth Draines, 72, another voter here, said she always participated in elections. This cycle, she was especially motivated by a ballot proposal that would amend Michigan’s constitution to protect access to abortion. “I don’t like the fact that they want to take away a woman’s right, because some women get raped and they don’t want to be reminded of that,” Draines said.In Kentucky, Ona Marshall, who co-owns one the two remaining abortion clinics in this state, said her polling station in Louisville was overflowing with voters around 11 am. “Not even in a presidential year have we seen that number of people, and this is mid-morning,” Marshall said.On the ballot in Kentucky is Amendment 2, a proposal that would restrict abortion in Kentucky. It’s unclear whether the surge of voters will cast their ballots in favor or opposition of the amendment, but Marshall remains optimistic.“Whatever happens, for our country and democracy, it’s extremely important that we have a higher turnout at the polls for every election, so to see it in a midterm election is definitely hopeful,” Marshall said.This morning in Georgia, Avondale Estates voter Coleman Williams said he felt the weight of the midterm elections. Georgia voters must chose between Democrat Stacey Abrams and incumbent Republican governor, Brian Kemp, in the gubernatorial race – and pick between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker for US Senate.“I’ve watched the debates, and there’s just so much at stake for everyone,” Williams said. “I’m feeling nervous but hopeful because Georgia knows that we have to get out there, and we clearly have.”There were also the voters who found themselves so worried about the future of this country that they cast their votes early in case something happened. Beverly Harvey, a retiree and bingo organizer in the Villages, a sprawling age-55-and-up community in central Florida, was among them.“Most of my friends and I voted early. We wanted to make sure we got our vote in to try to save this country if we should not live long enough to vote on election day,” said Harvey, 75. “When you live in the Villages, you have to plan ahead.”Harvey’s top concerns were the border, crime and the economy. “We need to be doing for people here. I understand their need to escape their living conditions, but we have a lot of people in this country that are living in poor conditions as well,” Harvey said. As for crime, “I have four grandchildren, two in college, and I pray every day for their safety wherever they might be.”Meanwhile, Harvey and her friends are reeling from the soaring cost of living. They saved and saved for years, not to live “expensively” in their retirement, but just comfortably, Harvey said – which seems like an increasingly ephemeral goal.“We’ve lost so much of our savings toward our retirement that we’re really having to cut back on everything,” said Harvey. She said she “pretty much” voted “straight Republican”. As for the few Democrats Harvey voted for, she explained: “They agreed on the same things I do: the economy, the border, safety.”TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsOhioPennsylvaniaMichigannewsReuse this content More
