Your Pa. Senate reading list

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Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race has been a roller-coaster ride, one of the most important and closely watched campaigns in the country. It features two big personalities — Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz — and huge stakes. The winner could determine which party controls the Senate.

If you’re just catching up, here’s a look at some of the biggest stories we have written about the contest, exploring the candidates’ backgrounds, personalities, policies, and strategy.

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Mehmet Oz is a top Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. What are his ties to the state? Oz lived in New Jersey for more than 30 years before he says he moved to Pennsylvania in late 2020, about a year before he launched his Senate campaign. We looked at the details of his residency in both states.

Is Mehmet Oz really a conservative? We looked at the Pa. Senate candidate’s record. 🔑 For years, Oz had described himself as a moderate Republican who didn’t take harsh stands on social issues. When he sought the GOP nomination, though, his Republican opponents accused him of being a faux conservative who had changed his stances just to win votes.

Mehmet Oz’s Senate run has stripped the gloss off his TV image. That could weigh on him in a tight finish. 🔑 For years, Oz charmed his way into homes as a daytime TV star. But after a brutal GOP primary and a wave of Fetterman memes, Oz has been saddled with a deeply negative image. As voters struggle with inflation, the biggest question he faces might be if they trust the celebrity doctor to understand their worries.

Mehmet Oz’s new hometown is a private, religious community where opinions on him are split. 🔑 “He’s a friend of the family,” is how a Bryn Athyn neighbor described Oz, whose in-laws have long-standing ties to the tight-knit but changing religious community in Montgomery County. Others were more critical: “As much as he might be my spiritual neighbor, he sure isn’t my physical neighbor.”

💰 $27 million

The amount Oz has put into his own campaign. That’s more than Phillie designated hitter Bryce Harper makes in base salary this year.

👥 47-47

Most polls right now show Oz running in almost a dead heat with Fetterman

🗣 1

The number of debates we had this season. But it was an interesting one! 🔑

Fetterman has said one of the reasons he wanted to be lieutenant governor was to chair the Board of Pardons. 🔑 Now his work there has become a major line of attack for Oz. This story provides a lens both into what Fetterman’s role in releasing prisoners was, as well as a critique of his leadership style from those who worked with him.

What’s behind Fetterman’s lingering speech challenges? Everything you need to know about auditory processing. 🔑 As Fetterman returned to the trail in August, he did so with compromised communication skills. He has occasional difficulty understanding words spoken to him, as well as sometimes retrieving the right word. We talked to Fetterman’s campaign, speech pathologists, and Senate experts about what it could mean for a U.S. senator.

Everything to know about the 2013 John Fetterman jogger incident. From where the jogger is now to how it impacted Fetterman throughout his political career.

John Fetterman’s parents gave him money into his 40s. Republicans say that undercuts his blue-collar image. 🔑 One of Fetterman’s great political strengths is his image as a blue-collar everyman. But he has also long acknowledged he grew up in a comfortable, suburban family, and that his parents supported him financially deep into his 40s, when his only paying job was making $150 a month as mayor of Braddock. We examined the details of Fetterman’s family aid and background.

🚂 Jim Thorpe after an Oz campaign event in Duryea. Is there a lovelier downtown anywhere in Pennsylvania?

🏃🏻‍♀️ Presque Isle for a run after Fetterman’s rally in Erie. Gorgeous beaches and trails!

😋 Pastificio’s for a hoagie after an Oz event in South Philly (several hungry Oz staffers followed us there).

🍁 A drive through Lancaster County during fall foliage season.

What we’ve learned from a year of attending Oz and Fetterman campaign events. We’ve seen these guys work a lot of different crowds over the last year and the rooms they’re in and the spaces they create for those moments are markedly different.

We asked undecided voters in Pa. why they’re still unconvinced. We got a range of answers. Think undecided voters are all highly engaged last minute decision-makers? Think again. A lot of people waiting to make up their mind just haven’t been paying attention yet.

Fetterman keeps attacking Oz for being from New Jersey. That’s resonating in parochial Pa. 🔑 While every state has some degree of hometown pride Pennsylvania ranks fourth in states with the most residents who were born where they live. That has made Oz’s uphill battle steeper when it comes to relating to everyday Pennsylvanians, after long living in New Jersey.

Pa. Republicans are gaining on Democrats. A look at registration changes. 🔑 A decade ago, Pennsylvania Democrats outnumbered Republicans by one million registered voters, or about 13 percentage points. This year it’s down to 540,000, about six percentage points. The shift is actually a lagging indicator though, since many of the voters who switched had long been voting Republican regardless of their party affiliation.

💬 “It’s inspiring and not in the kind of patronizing inspiration-porn way, but in a like ‘I trust this guy to fight for people with disabilities because he gets it.’”

— State Rep. Jessica Benham on Fetterman running while recovering from a stroke.

‘Boring white guys’ are out in a Pennsylvania Senate race focused on personality. 🔑 Pa. has a history of electing low-key figures to statewide office. Think about Gov. Tom Wolf and Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey. But this Senate race will change that as voters choose between a TV celeb and a candidate known for his hoodies and tattoos.

Doug Mastriano has the fervent base. But Mehmet Oz is trying to reach Pennsylvania swing voters. 🔑 They’re both Republicans, but Oz and GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano have run very different campaigns. While Mastriano is counting on a fervent base, Oz doesn’t excite conservatives as much, but has aimed for swing voters, trying to paint Fetterman as “extreme.”

Focusing on crime, Republicans think they’ve finally put John Fetterman on the defensive. 🔑 Fetterman and his memes won the summer, but Republicans felt like they started turning things around and tightening the race when they put up a barrage of ads attacking Fetterman as soft on crime. The attacks over crime have hovered over the entire race.

Inflation is still voters’ top concern. We took a look at what Fetterman and Oz say they would do. Inflation has consistently ranked as the number one issue in voters’ minds, according to public polling. We looked at what Fetterman and Oz each said they’d do about it.

Thank you for following along with all of our work this election cycle! See you Wednesday with results (we hope!).