The 2022 Pennsylvania Senate election will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most consequential races in the 2022 Midterms. Due to the retirement of incumbent Republican Senator Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania is left with an open seat that both parties are already massively vying for. However, before the general election in November, voters from each party decided which candidates will represent each party this past May 17th during the primary elections. 

In the Democratic primary, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman comfortably defeated US Representative Conor Lamb and State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. With more than 95% of the total vote reported, Fetterman received 58.8% of the vote, Conor Lamb received 26.3%, and Kenyatta received 10.7%. Fetterman had led most polls for a large portion of the race. However, less than a week before Election Day, Fetterman suffered a stroke; although he was expected to make a full recovery, it was uncertain how his medical condition could affect the election. Nevertheless, Fetterman’s margin of victory was exceptional, and he won every county in Pennsylvania. 

Fetterman, who stands at an impressive height of six feet eight inches, challenges the typical “look” and appearance of a politician. He rarely wears suits and shows up to campaign events in shorts and t-shirts. Fetterman was also considered by many Democratic voters to be a more progressive option than his closest opponent Conor Lamb. Fetterman has already received endorsements from President Biden and Senator Bob Casey, showing the importance of this Senate seat for national politics.

While the Democratic Primary was rather easily won by one candidate, the Republican Primary was immensely more competitive. For most of the campaign season, the two leading Republican candidates were TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, and hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick. Oz and McCormick spent millions of dollars in attack ads against each other; many of these ads claimed that Oz was a “RINO” (Republican in Name Only) or that McCormick was an asset for China. However, days before Election Day, far-right political commentator Kathy Barnette began rapidly rising in the polls, partly due to how viciously Oz and McCormick had attacked each other. Barnette was considered by many Republican advisors to be an unpredictable and unreliable candidate for a general election; former President Trump claimed that “Kathy Barnette will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical Left Democrats.”

Many Republican pundits believed that the race could be won by either of these three candidates. As of May 20th (the day this article was written), the Republican primary has still not been decided. Currently, Oz leads with 31.2% of the vote, McCormick closely follows with 31.1% of the vote, and Barnette is a relatively distant third with 24.7% of the vote. Oz and McCormick are separated by a little over a thousand votes, a remarkably small difference. With approximately 95% of the total vote reported, there is still a possibility for McCormick to surpass Oz. Even after all votes are counted, an automatic recount is likely due to Pennsylvania law requiring it if the margin of victory in an election is less than 0.5%. 

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/17/us/elections/results-pennsylvania-us-senate.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/13/politics/kathy-barnette-pennsylvania-senate-primary/index.html