PITTSBURGH (Fwrd Axis) — John Fetterman has won the Democratic nomination for an open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, FWRD AXIS News projected Tuesday.
Fetterman will face the winner of the Republican primary, which is not known yet as of this writing. The winner in November will get the seat of retiring two-term GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.
Following the news of his projected win, Fetterman tweeted out to his supporters, thanking them for their support despite his health issues over the past week.
PA — THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING ME AS YOUR DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR U.S. SENATE IN PENNSYLVANIA!!!!!!!! 😭😭
I’m *so* deeply honored. pic.twitter.com/6sa7bC5Vrw
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) May 18, 2022
The news comes after it was revealed over the weekend that Fetterman suffered a stroke on Friday but the treatment was successful and he expects a full recovery. On Tuesday, his campaign announced that he was “about to undergo a standard procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator.”
The open Senate seat is the Democrats’ best chance to pick up a seat in what is expected to be a landslide win for the GOP in the November midterm elections.
Fetterman is the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, supporting raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour. His wife, Gisele Fetterman, voted Tuesday morning and told reporters her husband would be back on the campaign trail “soon” without saying when that would be.
“This is the seat that could decide very much the future of our country and where we go on issues that he’s worked so hard on for the last two decades,” Gisele Fetterman said. “So it’s a very important seat. It’s very serious.”
President Joe Biden tweeted his support for Fetterman, saying the Democrats are united behind him.
“Democrats are united around John, who is a strong nominee, will run a tough race, and can win in November,” he wrote in a statement.
Biden added the Republican’s nominee, whoever it may be, will be “too extreme and too radical” to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate.
