Tag: John Fetterman

Oz Pennsylvania Senate Campaign Blasts Fetterman for Hiring Two Convicted Murderers

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz’s campaign on Thursday excoriated his opponent, Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, for bringing on two convicted murderers as campaign staffers. 

The celebrity surgeon and the National Republican Senate Committee cited Federal Election Commission filings indicating the lieutenant governor’s campaign employs Lee and Dennis Horton, who were both convicted of second-degree murder in 1993, having been found to have aided Robert Leaf in a theft-related killing of a man before fleeing the scene. 

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Democrat U.S. Senate Candidate John Fetterman Calls for ‘Prosecuting’ Oil, Grocery CEOs

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Democratic Pennsylvania senatorial candidate and lieutenant governor John Fetterman called for prosecuting executives of oil and food companies in a Sunday guest column for local media outlet Times Leader.

Fetterman blamed executives of large oil and food companies for the high prices that Americans are experiencing at gas stations and grocery stores across the country, stating that he would “crack down” on CEOs to bring down costs, according to the opinion column. The senatorial candidate juxtaposed the record profits of companies like Chevron, Exxon and Tyson, a large food company, with the high prices of gas and basic necessities.

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Cook Report Signals Trouble for Oz, Though Fetterman’s Had a Rough Return to the Campaign Trail

Bradley Vasoli

The Cook Political Report this week changed its description of the Pennsylvania Senate race from “toss up” to “lean Democrat,” signaling trouble for Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, even as Democrat John Fetterman struggles with his return to the campaign trail. 

Cook’s shifting outlook on the Senate contest is partly a response to figures on the FiveThirtyEight data-analysis website showing that Oz, a celebrity doctor, trails Fetterman, the lieutenant governor, by an average of 11.5 percentage points. 

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Pennsylvania Governor Promotes Abortion with Lawsuit and Executive Order

Bradley Vasoli

As the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania General Assembly advances a constitutional amendment to preserve its ability to restrict abortion, Governor Tom Wolf (D) is suing to defeat that amendment and taking executive action in favor of the practice. 

Keystone State governors typically don’t play a role in the constitutional-amendment process. If both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate pass an amendment in two consecutive sessions, the commonwealth submits the measure as a ballot question for voters to accept or reject at the ballot box. If a majority agrees to it, the amendment becomes law, with or without gubernatorial blessing. 

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Fetterman’s Anti-Fracking History a Vulnerability in Pennsylvania Senate Race

Bradley Vasoli

John Fetterman handily won campaigns for mayor of heavily Democratic Braddock, PA in the 2000s and 2010s and won two statewide Pennsylvania primaries, one for lieutenant governor in 2018 and another for U.S. senator this year. His history of opposing hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking” to extract natural gas didn’t burden him in those races. 

But now the Democratic lieutenant governor faces a general election for U.S. Senate against Republican celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz. And although Fetterman now says he does not support prohibiting fracking, his past support for a fracking ban promises to complicate his appeal to working Keystone Staters on whose livelihoods fossil-fuel development depends. 

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Fetterman Condition Prompts Pennsylvania State Senators to Consider State Disability Procedures

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s Senate State Government Committee on Monday heard expert testimony on possible changes to the state’s rules for handling instances when the governor or lieutenant governor cannot perform his or her duties.

The issue has become especially salient ever since Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) suffered a stroke on May 13. He recovered but only gradually returned to his job and to his U.S. Senate campaign. He missed 18 session days as presiding officer of the Pennsylvania Senate, leaving him out of the conclusion of budget deliberations.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Pledges to ‘Turn Out the Vote’ for Democrats in Key Battleground States

Cooper Moran

Progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) encouraged individuals to support three Democrats in battleground states.

In an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and in a subsequent social media post, the New York lawmaker advocated that winning U.S. Senate elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin would allow Democrats to expand the Supreme Court and abolish the filibuster.

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Pennsylvania Senate Democrats Propose Codifying Roe

Bradley Vasoli

Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision on Friday, Pennsylvania Senate Democrats proposed codifying abortion rights by state statute.

Sen. Katie Muth (D-Royersford) circulated a memorandum asking Senate colleagues to cosponsor the legislation that would keep the practice legal in Pennsylvania. So far, Sens. Amanda Cappelletti (D-Norristown), Lindsey Williams (D-Pittsburgh), Maria Collett (D-North Wales), Judith Schwank (D-Reading), Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) and Carolyn Comitta (D-West Chester) have signed onto the measure.

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Alluding to Fetterman, Senator Proposes Requiring Officials to Notify Pennsylvania Executive and Legislature of Health Emergencies

Bradley Vasoli

State Sen. David Argall (R-PA-Mahanoy City) last week proposed a rule that Pennsylvania’s statewide elected officials must disclose urgent medical conditions to the governor and legislative leaders.

He indirectly mentioned the most recent example of a statewide elected official who apparently neglected to disclose a life-threatening condition: Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D). Now a candidate for the U.S. Senate to replace the retiring Republican Pat Toomey, Fetterman suffered a stroke four days before the May 17 primary.

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Barnette Hints at Potential Endorsement of Pennsylvania GOP Senate Nominee Oz

Bradley Vasoli

Kathy Barnette, a Republican former U.S. Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, hinted on Monday at possibly supporting primary winner Mehmet Oz, something she previously refused to do. 

An Army Reserve veteran, political commentator and former adjunct finance professor who lives in Huntingdon Valley — a Montgomery County town neighboring Bryn Athyn where Oz lives — Barnette earlier balked at voting for the celebrity surgeon. On Primary Election Day, May 17, the eventual third-place finisher declared she had “no intentions of supporting globalists,” referring to Oz and fellow top-tier candidate Dave McCormick.

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Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Fetterman Was Diagnosed with Heart Irregularities in 2017

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), a candidate for U.S. Senate, released a statement Friday indicating serious unaddressed health problems preceded the stroke he suffered in the days leading up to the May 17 primary.

Fetterman called the heart clot which caused the stroke “preventable,” as he recalled he should have heeded medical advice following a visit to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center East in 2017. He went to the hospital to have this then-swollen feet examined. After assessing Fetterman’s foot condition and vital signs cardiologist Ramesh R. Chandra diagnosed him with an irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation (which means the heart’s upper chambers beat inconsistently with the lower chambers) and a decreased heart pump.

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Pennsylvania GOP and National GOP Side with Oz on Undated Absentee Ballots

Bradley Vasoli

The Republican National Committee joined Pennsylvania’s Republican Party this week in a legal effort to effectively help Mehmet Oz sew up last Tuesday’s Senate primary election battle against rival Dave McCormick.

As of Tuesday afternoon, McCormick is 982 votes behind the celebrity surgeon, though vote counting hasn’t concluded. Tuesday marked the final day that absentee military ballots could arrive at their respective counties and still get counted. What impact those final military votes will have on the race remains to be seen, though it bears observing that McCormick himself served in the U.S. Army and noted that fact well throughout his campaign. 

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Pennsylvania Senate Race Remains Unresolved

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary between celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz and former hedge-fund chief executive officer Dave McCormick remains unresolved the day after voters went to the polls.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Oz leads McCormick by 1,610 votes out of more than 1.3 million votes cast for GOP Senate nominee in total. Oz has 410,822, or 31.29 percent of the vote while McCormick has 409,212 or 31.17 percent. The insurgent candidacy of veteran and political commentator Kathy Barnette gained 323,700 or 24.66 percent while four other candidates split the rest of the vote.

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Republican Mastriano to Face Democrat Shapiro for Pennsylvania Governor; Senate Race Too Close to Call

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday gave State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) the nod to face state Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) in the race for governor this year.

The Democratic Party also nominated Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) for the Senate seat from which Republican Pat Toomey will retire at the end of 2022. At this writing, the GOP primary contest for that seat remains too close to call between top-tier candidates David McCormick and Mehmet Oz. 

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Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Senate Front-Runner John Fetterman Says He Suffered a Stroke, Will Fully Recover

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Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic front-runner in the state’s U.S. Senate race, announced on Sunday he suffered a stroke over the weekend, but he is on his “way to a full recovery.”

Fetterman, 52, posted a video of himself with his wife, Gisele. He said he was not feeling well on Friday and at the urging of his wife, he went to the hospital.

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Pennsylvania Senate Candidate Barnette’s Wikipedia Article Pulled

Bradley Vasoli

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, this week removed its entry for Kathy Barnette, a U.S. Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, on the basis that she hasn’t established sufficient “notability.” 

A FOX News contributor, Barnette has over 140,500 Twitter followers as of Wednesday evening — a number that grew by about 2,000 throughout the day. She has over 40,000 Facebook followers and over 1,410 YouTube subscribers, numbers that are also both growing rapidly. She has been surging in the polls, coming within two percentage points of celebrity doctor and frontrunner Mehmet Oz in this week’s Trafalgar Group and Fox 29 surveys.

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New Trafalgar Poll: Barnette Reaches Second in Pennsylvania Senate Race

Bradley Vasoli

A new poll shows the GOP primary race for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania continues to be tight, but with Kathy Barnette now inching ahead of David McCormick to reach second place behind Mehmet Oz.

Barnette, an army veteran and political commentator, is polling at 23.2 percent. Oz, the celebrity surgeon, received 24.5 percent and former hedge-fund executive McCormick got 21.6 percent.

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Latest Polling Shows Oz Slightly Ahead of McCormick for Pennsylvania GOP Senate Nomination

Bradley Vasoli

New polling shows Mehmet Oz pulling slightly ahead of David McCormick in the Republican Pennsylvania Senate primary for the first time since the latter announced his run in January.

The latest Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) Poll, conducted from March 30 to April 10, showed Oz with 16 percent of support among 317 registered Republicans compared with McCormick’s 15 percent, a statistical tie. Yet another survey by the Republican-aligned Trafalgar Group conducted between April 10 and 13 found Oz leading 22.7 percent to 19.7 percent among 1,074 polled Republicans, just slightly outside the 2.99-percent margin of error. The latter polling took place after former President Donald Trump endorsed the celebrity surgeon two Saturdays ago.

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Commentary: High Stakes in Pennsylvania’s Primary Races

Admin

Pennsylvania, where deep-blue and deep-red politics collide, is in the midst of an unprecedented primary election season. The May primary is the first one in the Commonwealth’s 235-year history in which voters – except registered Independents – will have the chance to vote for candidates in open gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, new state House and Senate districts, and new congressional districts.

In the marquee races for Senate and governor, both major parties are struggling to nominate candidates who can not only make it through the paddlewheel of the primary, but also win in the general election – especially in a state that typically plays politics between the 40-yard lines.

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Many Pro-Trump Voices Blast Dr. Oz Endorsement for Pennsylvania Seat in U.S. Senate

Bradley Vasoli

In the day since Donald Trump endorsed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz for Senate in Pennsylvania Saturday evening, many supporters of the former president criticized the move.

Even Sean Parnell, the Pittsburgh-area Army veteran who had Trump’s endorsement in the Republican primary until dropping out last November, expressed disappointment with the erstwhile chief executive via Twitter on Sunday.

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Mastriano and McSwain Tie for First in Pennsylvania Leadership Conference Gubernatorial Straw Poll; Barnette Wins Senate Poll and Schillinger Takes First for Lieutenant Governor

Bradley Vasoli
William McSwain and Doug Mastriano

  HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania— In a straw poll of conservative activists from across Pennsylvania last weekend, Kathy Barnette, Doug Mastriano, Bill McSwain and Clarice Schillinger finished ahead for the statewide offices they’re seeking. About half of the nearly 800 attendees from all around the Keystone State (and a few from nearby states) participated in the annual survey at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (PLC) in Camp Hill, just across the river from Harrisburg. Information-technology expert Scott R. Davis oversaw the survey and discussed the results with attendees Saturday afternoon. Barnette, a veteran and political commentator, earned 35 percent of votes cast for that office at the gathering throughout Friday and Saturday. Her fellow Montgomery Countian, real-estate developer Jeff Bartos, came in second with 17.8 percent. Former Ambassador Carla Sands and former hedge-fund executive David McCormick both received roughly 14 percent and celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz got 12 percent.  “I did have the opportunity to listen to the majority of the [GOP] Senate candidates,” Davis said, “and I will echo what I heard before I stepped on the stage. And each and every one of these candidates is going to be better than the candidate the other side puts up.”  Pennsylvania will hold…

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Prominent Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Josh Shapiro Cites ‘Scheduling Conflict’ During Biden Pennsylvania Visit

Cooper Moran

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General and a prominent candidate for the state’s governor, did not attend President Joe Biden’s appearance in the state, citing an unexplained “scheduling conflict.”

The scheduling issue comes as President Biden’s poll numbers continue to drop. According to the latest numbers, compiled by Reuters, only 45 percent of individuals approve of his job performance.

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Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman Launches Senate Bid

Admin

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman will launch his bid for his state’s open Senate seat on Monday, becoming the first major candidate to vie for what will likely be one of the most competitive races in the country.

Fetterman previously served as the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, a small steel town outside of Pittsburgh, but has found grassroots support across the country. He announced that he raised over $1.1 million in the weeks before his campaign, and his strong support in western Pennsylvania could make him an early frontrunner among the multiple Democrats expected to run for the seat.

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