Democrat John Fetterman pledged to fight for working people but struggled at times to articulate his views during a high-stakes U.S. Senate debate Tuesday night, while Republican Mehmet Oz tried to claim the center lane politically but frequently dodged policy specifics.

Fetterman’s performance, answering live questions in 30- and 60-second responses on stage, though, is likely to be the most scrutinized part of a debate that has drawn national attention — both for the importance of the Pennsylvania campaign, and for the widespread focus on Fetterman’s recovery from a May stroke.

Fetterman appeared to be able to follow the debate and engage in the conversation, but he often struggled to elaborate on his answers. He spoke haltingly and at times mixed up words, something he has admitted is a lingering speech issue related to his stroke. Such communication challenges are common in stroke victims, but are not cognitive problems. He used closed captioning, visible to both candidates, to follow the questions and answers from Oz.

Fetterman several times returned to a theme of fighting for Pennsylvanians “who’ve been knocked down,” a clear echo of his own health challenges.

But amid a race that is essentially tied, and that could determine control of the U.S. Senate, Fetterman’s delivery could reinforce questions from Republicans about this ability to serve as a senator.

» READ MORE: John Fetterman’s performance was center stage in lone Pa. Senate debate against Mehmet Oz

— Jonathan Tamari and Julia Terruso

While Oz, a surgeon and former daytime talk show host, was a smoother talker, Democrats believe he may have made the most substantive fumble of the night.

Asked about a proposed national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Oz said it should be up to states to decide — including by local politicians.

“I want women, doctors, local political leaders living the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves,” Oz said.

Democrats emphasized the “political leaders” part of the response, arguing that it shows Oz would allow politicians to interfere with women’s health choices.

Oz suggested — but refused to explicitly say — he would vote against the 15-week ban proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.).

“There should not be involvement from the federal government in how states decide their abortion decisions,” Oz said.

Pressed three times if that meant he was a yes or no on that bill, he declined to say.

Fetterman said he would support reinstating federal abortion law as it stood under Roe v. Wade, and Democrats still see the issue as a key factor among women voters.

“If you believe that the choice for abortion belongs between you and your doctor, that’s what I fight for,” Fetterman said.

— Jonathan Tamari

There was significant discussion of serious policy issues — on inflation, abortion, gun laws, crime, fracking and other topics — but much of it covered familiar ground. What was new Tuesday night was seeing Fetterman on stage, and there was a wide consensus, even among many Democrats, that it didn’t go well.

Fetterman, to be clear, appeared able to follow the debate and the questions, using closed captioning to help with problems processing auditory inputs. But his answers were often halting and short, especially as the hour wore on.

Asked about past criticism of fracking and his current support for the industry Fetterman responded:

“I do support fracking,” before pausing, and then adding, “I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking.”

Republicans immediately were circulating the clip on social media. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), and Oz supporter, tweeted, “Anyone watching today could tell there was only one person on that stage who can represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate: @droz.”

The stroke, Fetterman said in his opening statement, “knocked me down, but I’m going to keep coming back up, and this campaign is all about to me ... fighting for everyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down and needs to get back up.”

There’s a difference between struggling to speak (which Fetterman has acknowledged) and struggling to comprehend or think. But as the Senate race has grown uncomfortably tight for many Democrats, Fetterman’s performance didn’t assuage the party’s worries.

Until now, most of Fetterman’s public appearances were in brief stump speeches or media interviews, but this was a full hour under the spotlight, facing direct attacks. Republicans have accused Fetterman of misleading about the severity of the stroke, and they’ll use clips from Tuesday as fodder.

— Jonathan Tamari

In the media tent following the debate, John Fetterman’s campaign spokesman Joe Calvello said he thought Fetterman “spoke better tonight than he did at the primary. He gave a better performance.”

“John Fetterman performed great tonight for a man who was in a hospital bed just several months ago,” Calvello said. “He put it all on the line and was transparent with the people of Pennsylvania and he performed pretty damn well.”

Calvello slammed Oz for not committing to raising the minimum wage and for saying local politicians should have a say in whether a woman can have an abortion.

“Oz came out and said I want to restore civility to Washington. Did you find anything he said tonight civil? All he did was renew vicious attacks.”

— Julia Terruso

Oz campaign strategist Barney Keller called the debate “a complete disaster for John Fetterman.”

“He wasn’t able to defend any of his radical positions and it really showed,” Keller told reporters.

Keller doubled down on a theme Oz returned to throughout the night, calling him a unifier and Fetterman a radical. Keller addressed the media alongside Maureen Faulkner, the widow of murdered Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

“Not one single time tonight did John Fetterman ever offer any policy positions where he could attract people who are in the middle of the road, moderates or even independents,” Keller said. “He just takes everything to the extreme.”

— Julia Terruso

Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), who is not seeking reelection, questioned the health of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate after his debate with Republican candidate Mehmet Oz.

“It’s sad to see John Fetterman struggling so much,” Toomey wrote on Twitter. “He should take more time to allow himself to fully recover.”

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, used a closed captioning system during the debate during questions due to lingering auditory processing challenges.

Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) didn’t offer any thoughts on either candidate’s performance, but said Fetterman has “a clear record of public service” and true Pennsylvania roots.

“He knows Pennsylvania, he cares about Pennsylvanians, and he’s going to be a great Senator,” Casey wrote on Twitter following the debate.

— Rob Tornoe

Both John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz said they would support their party’s nominees if a Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch materializes in 2024.

“I’ll support whoever the Republican party puts up,” Oz said initially, but later added, “I would support Donald Trump if he decided to run for president.”

Fetterman said that Biden’s decision about seeking reelection is up to the president, but “if he does choose to run, I would absolutely support him.”

Neither Biden nor Trump are particularly popular at the moment, but neither candidate distanced themselves from their party’s leader. Oz relied heavily on Trump’s endorsement during the Republican primary, while Fetterman recently brought in Biden for a Philadelphia fundraiser.

— Jonathan Tamari

During the debate, Mehmet Oz brought up a 2013 incident where John Fetterman – then the mayor of Braddock, Pa. – pulled a shotgun on a Black jogger he wrongly believed has been involved in a shooting.

Oz asked Fetterman why he never apologized for the incident.

“I had the opportunity to defend our community as the chief law enforcement officer there,” Fetterman said. “Everybody in Braddock, an overwhelmingly majority-Black community, all understood what happened… Nobody believes that it was anything but me making a split-second decision to defend our community.”

» READ MORE: Everything to know about the 2013 John Fetterman jogger incident

— Rob Tornoe

During the debate, Mehmet Oz attempted to compare John Fetterman’s views on health care with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), an advocate for universal healthcare.

“John Fetterman’s approach is a very dangerous one. He believes we should socialize medicine,” Oz said.

Fetterman responded by pointing out that Sanders appeared on Oz’s television program, The Dr. Oz Show, back in 2019 for a friendly interview.

“Three years ago, he was on his show… He said, ‘I love this guy,’” Fetterman said. “Why don’t you pretend that you live in Vermont instead of Pennsylvania, and run against Bernie Sanders because all you can do is talk about Bernie Sanders.”

“The truth is that health care is a basic fundamental right,” Fetterman added. “And I believe in expanding that, and I believe in.. fighting for health care, the kind of health care that saved my life.”

— Rob Tornoe

Earlier this month, John Fetterman released a detailed medical report from his primary care physician that said the Democratic nominee “has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.”

Mehmet Oz’s campaign has pressed Fetterman to release his full medical records. During the debate, Fetterman was asked if he would pledge to release those records, in the interest of transparency.

“Transparency is about showing up. I’m here today to have a debate. I have speeches in front of 3,000 people in Montgomery County, all across Pennsylvania, big, big crowds,” Fetterman said. “I believe if my doctor believes that I’m fit to serve, and that’s what I believe is appropriate.”

When pressed, Fetterman declined to pledge to release his medical records.

“Again, my doctor l believes that I’m fit to be serving,” Fetterman said. “And that’s what I believe is where I’m standing.”

» READ MORE: John Fetterman is in good health, his doctor says in a new medical report

— Rob Tornoe

If you’ve been following the Senate race so far, you probably haven’t heard a lot of new information in the early stages of the U.S. Senate debate between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman said Oz couldn’t relate to people suffering the costs of inflation because of his many mansions. Oz said Fetterman can’t do it because he relied on his parents’ financial support deep into his 40s.

Fetterman pledged to protect abortion rights, while Oz said he wouldn’t support any federal laws that impinge on states’ ability to set abortion laws – without definitively saying if he’d vote “yes” or “no” on a GOP plan for a federal abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. (Oz was asked three times for a yes or no).

Fetterman declined when asked to release his full medical records, and said he’s support a $15 minimum wage. Oz said wages should be lifted by the private sector and that a mandated $15 wage would force businesses to close.

Fetterman said he supports fracking, despite past criticism. Oz, who also has criticized fracking in the past, called for more energy production in Pennsylvania.

It’s not surprising that the candidates aren’t reinventing their talking points at this late stage of the campaign. It could be that many viewers tuning in are hearing these arguments for the first time. But so far the debate hasn’t introduced any new talking points, or arguments.

— Jonathan Tamari

Here’s what both candidates said when asked if abortion should be banned in America.

Mehmet Oz:

John Fetterman:

Oz also declined to answer if he would support a bill proposed by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.) that would prohibit doctors across the country from performing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

“I am not going to support federal rules that would block states to do what they wish to do. The abortion decision should be left up to states,” Oz said.

— Rob Tornoe

John Fetterman brought up his stroke during the opening minutes of tonight’s debate, calling it “the elephant in the room.”

“I had a stroke. He’s never let me forget that,” Fetterman said of his opponent, Mehmet Oz. “I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together. It knocked me down, but I’m going to keep coming back up. And this campaign is all about, to me, fighting for every one in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down, that needs to get back up.”

— Rob Tornoe

John Fetterman started the debate with an attack on Mehmet Oz, claiming the television star is using his own money to buy a Senate seat.

“If he’s on TV, he’s lying,” Fetterman said, noting he called it the “Oz rule.”

“He did that during his career on his TV show. He’s done that during his campaign. And he’s also lying, probably, during this debate,” Fetterman said.

Oz began the debate by saying Maureen Faulkner, the widow of murdered Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, accompanied him to the studio.

“John Fetterman, during this crime wave, has been trying to get as many murders convicted and sentenced to life in prison out of jail as possible, including people who are similar to the man who murdered her husband,” Oz said.

In 1983, Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of fatally shooting Faulkner.

— Rob Tornoe

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s campaign requested a reporter be allowed inside the debate studio to observe the closed captions today following false accusations circulating on social media that Fetterman would be fed answers through the closed captioning system.

The TV studio hosting the debate has said the only text appearing on the monitor will be transcriptions of the moderator’s questions and Oz’s responses. The monitors will also be visible to both Fetterman and Republican opponent Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello said Nexstar, which owns the TV station hosting the debate, denied a request to stream the closed captioning in the media tent outside the studio, saying it wasn’t possible.

“We then asked to have two pool reporters in the control room to see the captions in real time during the debate. Nexstar originally agreed to this, but the Oz team did not want the media to have any access and so Nexstar said they would also not allow this request,” Calvello said. “To be clear: we wanted there to be a screen in the media tent that had the same captions that Oz and Fetterman would see on stage.”

Oz’s campaign did not immediately return requests for comment.

Fetterman and Oz debate at 8 p.m. at abc27 studio in Harrisburg. A crush of national media is watching in a tent outside the studio, due to capacity issues fitting everyone inside.

— Julia Terruso

Outside of the debate studio, a group of Oz supporters held up signs next to a group of Armenian Americans protesting the celebrity doctor.

The anti-Oz group, who had protested in Huntingdon Valley earlier this month, is opposing Oz for what they say has been a refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as the Senate did in 2019.

“We’re worried that the unanimity that took us 50-60 years to secure will be rolled back,” said Aram Hamparian, one of the group’s leaders outside of the debate.

Matt Bugli stood nearby holding an Oz sign. The attorney from Cambria County said he came out to support Oz who he called “compelling and capable.”

“I think tonight he has a clear advantage,” Bugli said. “He knows how to talk about the issues and he shows he cares. Control of the U.S. Senate will come down to Pennsylvania and I think it’s important this Senate seat stay in Republican hands,” Bugli said.

John Abbott, who lives nearby, took a stroll with a homemade “Big John Has my Vote” sign. “I figured, make it simple,” Abbott said.

“I hope he can hold his own tonight, answer questions in a timely manner. I’ve been on the other side of that, it’s not always easy,” he said to reporters. “Like right now.”

— Julia Terruso

Both Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz agreed to the use of closed captioning in tonight’s debate to ensure Fetterman can follow questions and conversation as he continues to struggle with auditory processing following his May stroke.

That means monitors will be placed behind the moderators facing the candidates. The monitors will only display the moderator questions and Oz’s responses (not Fetterman’s answers, as he doesn’t need those typed out), according to the debate host, Nexstar.

Both Fetterman and Oz agreed to the accommodation which viewers will hear about at the top of the debate.

Speculation that Fetterman can somehow communicate with his campaign or get any other information but what’s being said by moderators and Oz is untrue.

It’s not the first time the introduction of the technology into the debate has caused cries of cheating, though. When the debate terms were first agreed to in mid-September they included a walk through for Fetterman to test out the technology ahead of the primetime showdown. Oz’s team asked that no actual questions from the debate be given to Fetterman during that practice session.

Fetterman’s team agreed, with a sarcastic jab.

”We are not sure why the Oz team is inferring that the professional people at Nexstar are a part of some grand conspiracy here to give us questions earlier,” the campaign said in a statement back in September.

— Julia Terruso

Under Pennsylvania law, prosecutors can bring a charge of felony murder, also known in the state as second-degree murder, against someone involved in a crime that led to a death — even if the person didn’t pull a trigger or mean to kill anyone. Conviction brings a sentence of mandatory life in prison without parole.

Now, the issue of felony murder’s role in criminal justice has become a flashpoint in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, one of the midterms’ most-watched contests, and one that is now focused on the issue of crime.

Democratic nominee John Fetterman doesn’t want life without parole to be mandatory in felony murder cases, and is criticizing racial inequities in who is charged with the crime. His Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, is fixating on these issues to accuse Fetterman of being soft on crime in general, even falsely claiming the Democrat wants to free all murderers from prison. They are expected to spar over these issues during their only televised debate tonight.

The debate comes less than a week after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the felony murder law brought by Rivers and other prisoners. More than 1,100 people in the state are serving life sentences under the law, prison data show. Nearly 70% of them are Black, in a state where Black people make up about 12% of the population, an analysis of state data by The Marshall Project found.

» READ MORE: A Pa. mandatory life-without-parole sentence is a flashpoint between Oz and Fetterman

— Abbie VanSickle and Cary Aspinwall, The Marshall Project

Debates are always highly anticipated events in key political races, but Tuesday’s clash between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz has even more riding on it than usual.

It’s the one and only debate of this campaign, one of the most important elections in the country, and it comes amid a national focus on Fetterman’s health, and his recovery from a May stroke. For many voters, it could be their only chance to see him — and Oz — in an unscripted setting.

The debate also comes as most polls show the Senate race is essentially a toss-up with two weeks to go, within a handful of percentage points after Oz had narrowed Fetterman’s summer lead.

Both candidates have been fairly vague on policy to this point, often speaking in broad strokes or talking about what (or who) they’re against more than what they’re for. So this might be a chance for the moderators to at least try to pin them down on some specifics.

The Senate race has a lot riding on it — including potentially control of the U.S. Senate.

Fetterman’s camp has already been lowering expectations, noting that reporters have pointed out his past stumbles. Oz is an experienced TV showman, but is still running his first election.

Here are the key things we’ll be watching for.

But while we’d like to think a big policy statement might swing voters, both campaigns are mostly likely watching for potential stumbles they can turn into attack ads or viral videos.

» READ MORE: Pa. senate debate: Here's what we're watching for

— Jonathan Tamari

A new poll released the morning of the John Fetterman-Mehmet Oz debate affirms what we’ve been seeing for weeks: The U.S. Senate race is basically a jump ball with two weeks to go.

Fetterman, the Democrat, leads Oz, the Republican, 51% to 49%, according to a CBS News survey released Tuesday morning. That’s well within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points, meaning it’s impossible to discern who’s ahead.

The CBS poll is in keeping with most surveys that have showed a clear tightening of the race over the fall, leaving it as a toss-up. A CNN survey released Monday showed a wider Fetterman edge, 51% to 45%, though that’s a much bigger margin than other recent polls, most of which show an essentially tied contest.

The CBS poll shows a few reasons for why Oz has closed a once significant gap on Fetterman. First, he appears to have rallied reluctant Republican voters to his side. Some 94% of Republicans now support Oz, up from 87% in September. And the three issues voters cited as most important — the economy, inflation, and crime — are all ones that Republicans believe play in their favor. Gun laws and abortion ranked fourth and fifth most important, but far behind the economic concerns.

The poll found that 30% of voters surveyed said they’re “very likely” to watch tonight’s debate, and 34% said “somewhat likely.” Majorities said they didn’t think it was important to hear about either Fetterman’s health or Oz’s residency.

The poll also found the campaign taking a political toll on Fetterman: 47% of his supporters said they were “very enthusiastic,” significantly down from 63% in CBS’s September survey.

Oz enthusiasm was even dimmer. Only 30% of his supporters are “very enthusiastic,” though that’s not a new development. He has long suffered from skepticism even from fellow Republicans.

This CBS News/YouGov poll surveyed 1,084 registered voters in Pennsylvania between Oct. 21 to 24. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.1 percentage points.

» READ MORE: The Pa. Senate race is tight as Oz closes on Fetterman

— Jonathan Tamari

Typically candidates headed into political debates are declaring victory before even taking the stage. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, five months out from a stroke that nearly killed him, is taking a different approach: acknowledging it will be hard.

“We’ve been preparing, and it’s certainly going to be a challenge, without a doubt,” Fetterman said in an interview last week with The Inquirer. “We’re going to be depending on captioning, and of course we do have auditory processing” challenges, Fetterman said.

Fetterman, who has recovered well physically from his stroke, according to doctors, still struggles to understand some spoken words and occasionally retrieve words when speaking. The matchup comes as the race, which could determine which party controls the Senate, has tightened.

Fetterman’s campaign also released a memo Monday downplaying expectations by drawing a contrast between Fetterman and Oz, who has spent a large part of his career in TV.

Oz’s campaign, which has ignored multiple Inquirer requests for an interview, declined to answer questions about how Oz was preparing or feeling about the debate.

» READ MORE: ‘It’s... going to be a challenge’: Fetterman downplays expectations for Pa. Senate debate with Oz

— Julia Terruso

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman will use closed captions at the debate, as he has for all of his one-on-one media interviews, to ensure he understands the questions amid his auditory processing challenges. That means there will be a slight delay between the moment the moderator asks a question and when the Democratic Senate nominee answers it.

Viewers will be told at the top of the debate that Fetterman’s using the technology.

What we don’t know is how that system will impact the back and forth you typically see at a debate. It could impact how much will the candidates address each other.

Even before his stroke, Fetterman wasn’t great at debates. He was visibly grouchy during the Senate primary debates and at one point bristled when asked to explain a basic piece of his policy (at what income level would he raise taxes?).

He has campaigned more on an ethos — “the union way of life” and “forgotten communities” — than wonky ideas. At times he can be expansive and make thoughtful arguments about his principles. At others, he’s gruff and seems miffed by the notion that he should have to explain himself at all.

» READ MORE: Fetterman vs. Oz showdown: Here's what we're watching for

— Jonathan Tamari and Julia Terruso

While Mehmet Oz has railed against crime in Philadelphia, he had said little until Monday about what he would do as a U.S. senator to fix it. He has refused to say if he would have voted for the bipartisan gun-safety bill that became law last summer and offered vague answers about raising the minimum wage or a national 15-week ban on abortion.

Instead, Oz has focused on his opponent, John Fetterman, painting him as soft on crime and an extension of President Joe Biden’s “liberal agenda.”

Much of the focus of Tuesday’s Senate debate will be on Fetterman and his health, but the evening could also be telling for Oz in the final days of the tight Senate race.

Fetterman has accused Oz of running a hollow campaign with no core values, focused on saying what he needs for his own advancement. Oz could face some of these questions again on the biggest stage yet in the campaign’s one and only debate, when both candidates will be pressed in public to clarify their stances in what has been a largely personality-focused race.

» READ MORE: Mehmet Oz has run a campaign largely against John Fetterman. Now he has a chance to tell voters what he’s for.

— Julia Terruso

The debate will be telecast in 62 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, as well as some parts of Ohio, New York, and Washington, D.C., Nexstar, which owns abc27, said in a statement. In the Philadelphia area, the debate will air live on PHL17.

Nexstar’s NewsNation, which serves as the company’s cable news network, will also air the debate statewide. Pre-debate analysis from Leland Vittert starts on that station at 7 p.m. Chris Cuomo will handle postdebate analysis at 9 p.m. Check the NewsNation website to see what channel to tune in to, depending on your television provider.

If you have Verizon Fios TV as your cable provider, though, you may run into issues. Verizon blacked out all Nexstar Media Group-owned stations — which include all WPHL stations such as PHL17, as well as NewsNation — on its service on Oct. 15. The companies failed to reach a new distribution agreement earlier this month, leading to the blackout.

It is unclear when the channels might again be available to Fios subscribers. Verizon says that it will work to return the stations to customers as soon as possible.

You can also livestream the debate. In addition to watching it on PHL17′s website, the debate will be streamed on a number of other station’s websites, include New York’s WETM-TV, WPIX-TV, and WIBV-TV, as well as the Washington, D.C.-based WDVM-TV. All the Pennsylvania-based stations airing the debate will also carry it on their respective websites, Nexstar said.

» READ MORE: Pa. Senate debate: Start time, how to watch and stream 2022 showdown between Fetterman and Oz

— Nick Vadala